Vaulting Ambition, Which O'erleaps Itself

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other. - William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Health care reform has always been extraordinarily difficult in the U.S.—we saw how Bill Clinton fared with it. Big reforms in general are difficult: Bush never managed to address social security reform, tax code reform, or immigration reform which were three of his signature policies over 8 years as President, most of which he enjoyed majorities in Congress. Big change does not come easy.

Barack Obama, invoking 1932, is laying out an economic rescue plan that incorporates may huge reforms: health care, education, energy policy, a major shift to addressing global warming, a massive stimulus plan on the order of $500 billion or more on top of the current economic rescue plan, and a bailout of the auto industry with a new omnipotent car czar to single-handedly refashion the American auto sector. A bold agenda, indeed.

But is it too bold? Is Obama trying to do too much too quickly? Can he really accomplish so many improbable reforms simultaneously when there's little money in the economy and so much more to be spent on Wall Street, stimulus, and the auto industry? Can an car czar really rebuild the auto industry—something a diverse group of business people have thusfar failed to do—while czars for everything else (drug war, counterterrorism, etc.) have not been successful?

Most of all, can one man, Barack Obama, really accomplish so much so quickly? Or has he let his ambitious dreams go unchecked?