In a nutshell

Anybody with a pulse knows this is what's going on, but it's refreshing to hear somebody (John Cassidy of The New Yorker) openly admit it. All entitlements resemble a ratchet wrench in exactly this way, of course.

But I think this health care monstrosity is going down to defeat, and then things should become much more sane, and much more fun. In the semi-long run, the major effect of this debacle may be to resuscitate and rejuvenate a GOP that had unraveled and become less than worthy of support or respect. Obama's for change, and a fiscally principled GOP would certainly be a change.

The longer-run lesson is that while both parties dream of controlling an undivided government, every time either one actually achieves it, they pretty quickly overreach and self-destruct. There's no substitute for the mutual counterbalancing that goes with the separation of powers, and it's true for the President vs. Congress, too.

Byron

From WSJ Best of the Web:

So, to sum up, in the name of an abstraction ("making the United States a more equitable society") and because it fits their "political calculus," Obama and Nancy Pelosi are planning to impose upon the country a massively expensive burden that can never be lifted. And they're lying to us about it ("some subterfuge is historically necessary").