A New Era

When President Ronald Reagan swept into office in 1980, it signaled a new conservative era in American politics. That era officially ended on Thursday when Obama unveiled his first budget. The moment is as historically momentous, albeit in a different way, as Obama's election as the nation's first African-American president.

Obama's budget amounts to an ambitious plan to reimagine government and, to a large degree, American society. Where Reagan advocated for smaller government, less taxes and unfettered capitalism, Obama is betting the financial meltdown, the housing crisis, and 8 years of Bush have left Americans hungry for a newly energized, enlarged, and active government. Obama would tackle healthcare reform, green energy, and education. But his budget would also begin to close the income inequality that was one of the hallmarks of the conservative era. He will raise taxes on the richest Americans and give breaks to middle and low-income earners -- a total repudiation of Bush's tax policy.

I, like many people, had been saying for awhile that Obama's presidency would ride on the success or failure of the massive stimulus package. That remains true, but he's now doubled-down on that bet. Obama has lined up a formidable array of opponents with his budget proposals -- the gas and oil industry, big agriculture, and banking interests. Whether he can outstrip these interests and whether the American people will follow will determine the contours of this nascent era -- and Obama's place in history.