He could have gotten what ever authority he needed had he been willing to act forcefully. The markets might have gone down another thousand points or more but the basis for a recovery could have been put in place. He would just have had to act with a fraction of the ruthlessness that the Bush Administration routinely employed. In my opinion and others I have read.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."