I see your point, but IMHO, the team in your metaphor should be the whole population. Most people are morons and don't want to be bothered with participating in government, so they're happy to watch things hum along like they do with American Idol. I don't think any president in the foreseeable future will be able to make any progress with the existing team. As long as America stays fat and (generally) happy, nothing will change. I do have to point out though, that raising taxes on the rich only encourages them to be more creative about avoiding taxes in the first place. Ever heard of the Laffer Curve? Also, if you consider me rich and raise my taxes, guess what happens to my product or service prices? They just keep going up as I pass my tax burden as a cost on to my customers, who think that their taxes didn't go up. Everyone's taxes essentially go up, it's called inflation.