I like to be an eminently fair person, and I know that when we talk about economic growth rates during the Obama presidency, the first thing you will tell me is that he inherited a mess. And yes. He did. You want to lay the mess entirely at the feet of George W. Bush, and I disagree, but let's leave that aside and just stipulate what is obviously true: The poor state of the economy in the first few years of the Obama presidency cannot be blamed on his policies.