IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Why The Rush?

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Why The Rush?

Leadership: A pattern is emerging for this new presidency. The more radical and far-reaching the plan, the less time the public gets to debate it. Is this due to ambition or fear of push-back?



Where is Ross Perot when we need him? The eccentric Texan got a few things wrong in his political career, but he got at least one thing right with one of his favorite sayings: Measure twice, cut once. This is wisdom that the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress seem totally to have forgotten.

As of the past week, not one but two reform schemes to transform huge swathes of the economy and extend government power into both are on a do-it-yesterday fast track. President Obama wants Congress to send him an overhaul of the entire U.S. health care system by Oct. 15 — about 16 weeks from now.

His financial reform plan, unveiled just last Wednesday, is the most far-reaching since the New Deal. But the administration wants action now, and at least one leading Democrat, Barney Frank, says Congress will get a bill to Obama's desk before the end of the year.

And this Congress could do it — as long as no one cares about the quality of the result. It proved as much with the stimulus bill, which was produced in a matter of weeks and has done far more to swell the deficit than to juice the economy.

The news on health care reform is somewhat better: That is, the effort is running into some push-back from the Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO has looked at two draft bills in the Senate and come back with dismal cost-benefit scores. One would cost $1 trillion over 10 years and cut the number of uninsured by only a third. Another would cost $1.6 trillion and still not reach universal coverage. It's good to see that someone is still in a measuring mood.

So why the big rush? The answer may have something to do with the fact that the administration is hurrying the most when delay is most likely to change people's minds.

Take the "public option" that Obama wants to see in health insurance. Poll results do suggest that the idea is popular. But we doubt if most Americans have thought through the scenario of a tax-funded national health plan competing with unsubsidized private insurers. They simply haven't had the time.

The same might be said of the push to expand the powers of the Federal Reserve and set up a wide-ranging financial regulatory regime when the causes of last year's financial crisis are still far from clear.

Obama may act supremely confident, but his haste here suggests insecurity. He acts as if he believes his political capital is dwindling so fast that it will be gone by the end of this year.

A stronger leader would take his time. He would not fear being called a wimp for appointing blue-ribbon commissions, because such drawn-out deliberation is actually what the country needs. Health care and finance both need work. But the first step is to understand the problems and think through the possible solutions.