Congress can overide a veto. But Presidents cant do anything until congress hands them a bill to sign. Saying presidents are responsible isnt based on reality. Certainly they can encourage action but have no direct power to change until they are handed a bill.
Maybe, but "punting" isn't a great word for it. Clinton only had Dem control in the first two years and we were in the middle of a recession. He finally got around to it in 1999 but the idea never went anywhere (see link- i'm not sure it's a great solution but it was never really debated). A similar idea was picked up by Bush, but it died too (funny because he had Rep Congress from 2003 to 2007). Obama had Dem control of Congress in first term but we were in the middle of the Great Recession and his priority was Healthcare, which was eventually passed. Biden had the COVID problem and a horrible economy (see the trend here?) but he signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law and with it the Government Pension Offset. So "punting" isn't exactly the word to describe it, but I agree no one has addressed the core problems of funding shortfall. That is probably because the solution is clear. See post #335. No one wants that on their record because every American gets a little pain from it. Trump's tax policies made the problem worse. Right now the government has a revenue problem, and I lay that on the Republicans (and American voters for allowing it). It's become a game of chicken for us all (except the billionaires).
