We ran a George Will column today that mentioned one possible positive outcome from the health care debacle:
During the Democrats' health care monomania, the nation benefited from the benign neglect of the rest of their agenda. Now the nation may benefit from the exhaustion of their appetite for more political risk.
Sure, maybe President Obama will now remember his pledge to focus like a laser on the nation's real problem of unemployment. But never underestimate the ambitions of someone who wants to be a "transformative" president:
President Obama's top aides huddled yesterday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic committee leaders to map out a strategy for cobbling together 60 votes on a comprehensive energy and climate change bill once lawmakers return next month from their spring break.
The hour-long meeting in Reid's office included White House legislative affairs director Phil Schiliro and Obama's energy and climate adviser, Carol Browner. According to a Senate Democratic leadership aide, the Obama officials pledged to work with the committee leaders once Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) release their bill next month.
Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal sums up what is becoming obvious to almost everybody but Lindsey Graham: We are finally achieving real definition, with the Democrats now being "the party of the state" and Republican now finding themselves, "by default more than design" the "party of the private economy."
The GOP is being counseled to abandon its morning-after impulse to “repeal the bill.” Why do that? This is the first honest emotion the party has had in years. Yes, technical repeal isn't remotely possible until after 2012. But “Repeal!” is a terrific bumper sticker and campaign slogan for our times. Repeal! ObamaCare is just a start. Can't repeal the bill yet? Drive people to November's polls to repeal the Democratic Party and what it has turned into.
Every time we let the kids play house, they almost wreck the place, and the adults have to come in and clean up the mess. One of these times, there won't be enough left to fix.
