Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues The Obama Administration 6,825.42 Nice job Mr. President

Still, the question of why stocks have fallen so hard this year is not so easily answered with Obama's name alone, despite what Limbaugh and Kudlow would have us believe.

There is, of course, the horrendous recession Obama inherited. Consumer and business spending fell off a cliff beginning in September as the global credit crisis deepened, and there have been scant signs that the economy has even begun to bottom.

On Friday, the government reported that the economy shed 651,000 jobs last month, bringing the total lost to 4.4 million since the recession began in December 2007.

Though investors are supposed to look ahead, "it's asking a lot for the stock market to hold up in the face of unrelentingly ugly numbers on the economy," said Ethan Harris, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York.