As an addition to the post below, we can endlessly debate what the administration could have pushed Congress to pass, whether we're talking about the stimulus bill or a better ACA or mortgage cramdown in bankruptcy etc... etc... I'm not really hostile to the notion that they mostly got what they wanted on all of these things, so the "but Congress" defense is weak (pre-2011, anyway). Still there were things they did have direct control over and funding to deal with that they didn't, and that isn't debatable.
