Sorry - it seems that I've made a grievous mistake. After reading through a few of the other threads around here, I've come to the conclusion that Indy is not a partisan hack. Seems that he there is another current thread where he's questioning Obama.
Sorry, Indy!
I'm right about the rest of it, though. When the total US GDP is around $15 trillion, and the US Federal government budget is just shy of $4 trillion, the the Federal government is a major factor in EVERYTHING that goes on.