The week’s presidential politicking news wouldn’t be complete without at least one visit with Dr. Ben Carson. While other candidates have been attracting the stumblebirds and the associated media attention, Carson has been staying within striking distance in the polls in early primary states. The Good Doctor stopped by Fox News Sunday this week and all but announced that he was running, giving viewers a few insights into how things would be under a Carson administration.

“[Romney] made one major mistake,” Carson said. “He assumed that they all had the same mentality. They don’t. A lot of people in that 47 percent are very anxious to experience the American dream. What they are looking for is the right mechanism, the pathway out. This is what we have to provide for them, and that’s going to include fixing the economy, which is not going to be that difficult to do, quite frankly. You know, some tax reform, some real tax reform, regulatory reform, you know, utilizing our natural resources the right way. Recognizing that, you know, utilizing fossil fuels is not necessarily exclusive of developing green and renewable energy. We can do more than one thing at one time. There’s a lot of stuff that can be done, but people just make it into a big political issue so that they can win. That’s what it’s all about. They want to win. It’s not about the American people.”

Hearing that optimistic outlook brings a few words to mind, such as confident, positive, uplifting and … what?

To be clear, his attitude toward the now infamous 47 percent is honest and should have some appeal. And the solutions he puts forth – at least from the 10,000 foot level – are solid conservative positions which have been adopted by many candidates. But the reasons that those specific plans have not been implemented to date are very real and they won’t magically go away just because a Republican is elected president. (No more so than the fact that the rise of the oceans mysteriously failed to cease when Barack Obama was elected.) Tax reform is something every conservative wants, but no politician seems interested in touching once the election is over. Congress is the barrier here, and the fault isn’t just with the Democrats. The regulatory reform part is easier, since the President will be appointing the people doing the aforementioned regulating, but that’s pretty much true no matter which Republican is elected.

One of the greatest hurdles to any substantial reform will remain the Congress. And even after a landslide such as was seen in 2010 (and to a slightly lesser extent last year) there is still enough competition in the Legislative branch to make such things difficult, if not impossible. I can appreciate Dr. Carson’s positive attitude, but when it comes to things like tax reform, as well as other large scale reforms such as spending, it will take more than a new face in the Oval Office.