That sound you hear is corporations (especially in the healthcare industry) laughing all the way to the bank. Craig Israelsen had a fascinating article in a recent issue of Financial Planning Magazine, and the results are quite startling. As Israelsen correctly points out, presidents are happy to deny responsibility when the news is bad, and take unearned credit when news is good, but I’d like to suggest that any POTUS who has eight years (two terms) has to accept some blame and credit, especially after several years in office. 
Based on numbers, I’d say Clinton and Obama have been the most investor-friendly in recent memory, and investors (and business), should be lining up to thank them. And when did facts and numbers count in politics? (If you’re interested in the full article, drop me a line and I’ll send it along.
Let’s look at another common theme from a certain blowhard American political party—that the Affordable Care Act has been a disaster for the healthcare industry. Notice I said industry; whether it has improved the lives of individual consumers is another story. According to Morningstar’s charts, $10,000 invested on March 23rd, 2010 (the day President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law) would be worth $27,377.99 today. A 173% increase in less than 6 years doesn’t exactly seem unprofitable to me. Had you been smart enough to focus on biotechnology—you know, not be dragged down by all those terrible companies that make up any index—your $10,000 would be worth nearer $40,000 today. ($40,645 using FBIOX as an example—no investment recommendation intended, example only). Biotech is one of the most risky areas of the healthcare scene, but apparently Obamacare hasn’t put all that much of a damper on risky, venturesome research and innovation, if a better than 300% return is any indicator.
Wouldn’t it be nice if political opinions had some basis in facts? I hope I’ve just given you some.