In 2009, during his first address before a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama championed a budget that would serve as a blueprint for the country's future through ambitious investments in energy, health care and education. "This is America," the new president proclaimed. "We don't do what's easy."
Four years later, even easy seems impossible. "Let's agree right here, right now, to keep the people's government open, pay our bills on time and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America," Obama pleaded during his State of the Union address.
By having to exhort Congress to execute even the most basic functions of government, Obama — fresh off the "fiscal cliff" fight and facing yet another showdown with lawmakers over massive automatic spending cuts — revealed just how limited the powers of the highest office in the land have become.