As summer turns to fall here in our nation's capital, the bloom is off the rose for President Barack Obama. The administration is at the mercy of an unpredictable Congressional majority. Much ink has been spent in recent weeks over Washington's great white elephant, health care reform. President Obama says passing a bill is his top priority. What is often forgotten as a key to Obama's struggles, however, is not as tangible as most political hurdles. The White House cannot control and solve all societal ills through federal action. In essence, from problems such as health care to energy and beyond, Obama must account for the chance that, maybe, just maybe, increased federal power may hinder progress.
The president arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with a cadre of policy experts determined to reshape government and its relationship with the American people. These men and women, armed with Ivy League intellects, represent "the best and the brightest" class of political officials. President Obama is said to possess unwavering cool. His personal confidence was evident by the discipline of his presidential campaign, and I applaud his White House for filling its cabinet with the most capable public servants. He has relied on self-assurance in uncertain times. Still, I wonder if John Steinbeck's timeless creed hangs over Barack Obama: "The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry."
Soon after the death of former Vietnam-era Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara this past July, famed Washington Post columnist David Ignatius offered an assessment that is eerily relevant to the Obama conundrum. "Nobody gets to do over his mistakes, least of all Robert McNamara. But perhaps the memory of this brilliant and tragic man will keep us from being too certain of our own judgment -- and encourage us to consider, even when we feel most confident, the possibility that we could be wrong." McNamara's affinity for succinct policy analysis did not translate to the jungles of Vietnam. In the end, it was his unwillingness or inability to admit mistakes and adapt to an ever-changing environment that led to his downfall.
American presidential history is littered with countless men, commendable and scholarly at their core, in search of answers to America's troubles. There was Franklin Roosevelt and his revolutionary New Deal policies that were meant to reshape market regulation and create a social safety net. Later years saw the rise of John Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society platforms, both of which sought to eliminate poverty and counter racial injustice. Finally, presidents such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan took drastic measures to augment federal control over illicit drug policy, often at the detriment of an overcrowded prison system. Each example is tied together on a fundamental level by the common trait of federal action. The mentality that spawns Wall Street bailouts and climate control bills is one in which any problem is tackled by grandiose solutions. Uncle Sam faithfully executes the "more is better" principle. No one stops to ask if more simply means more control and concentrated power.
No one can deny that our nation faces huge challenges at home and abroad. President Obama has big plans to tackle these issues. We can only hope that he realizes that government cannot control the uncontrollable.
Michael Stubel is a junior in the School of Public Affairs and the School of Communication and a classical liberal columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
