Live Blogging the Election

Ladies and Gentlemen, let's finally make use of that Conservative Wahoo Chat box on the right hand side of your screen.  Tomorrow night--beginning at 7PM and going until the last dog dies, we'll use this space to chat, to critique coverage, and to celebrate.  Sign up for a "handle" or poke in as a guest, doesn't matter much to me.  But let's get together and watch Nancy Pelosi's fall from grace.

Health Reform Passes

By a vote of 219-212, the House of Representatives passed the Senate version of sweeping healthcare reform, sending the bill to the President for his signature. As part of the wheeling and dealing necessary to pass the bill, the House also passed a series of alterations to the bill that they are "assured" the Senate will accede to (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). President Obama has earned a huge legislative triumph, delivering on one of his primary campaign promises and earning a good bit of the Holy Grail of Democratic domestic politics of the last 60 years.

A couple of thoughts on the morning after.

1. This is not now, nor was it ever, about healthcare. It was about fundamentally reshaping the role of government in our lives, an alteration of the relationship between the governed and the government. The Democratic Party has seen the centrality of government in delivering healthcare as the key element of their social program, and though we have moved in the direction of socialized medicine over the years, this is a "great leap" in that direction.

2. What is done is difficult to undo. Even if the Republicans capture both chambers in upcoming Congressional elections, they will not have veto-proof majorities, rendering any attempt to overturn key portions of this legislation ineffective, as President Obama will simply veto them. Republicans MUST capture the White House in order to undo this travesty. That almost all of the revenue producing portions of the bill (read: TAXES) start immediately, and all the spending portions (read: SPENDING) start after 2014 (a gimmick designed to keep the total price down), is a good thing for Republicans--there will be two full years of taxing imposed on the American people before they see any of the promised "benefits" of the legislation.

3. I've got to hand it to my Congressman (Frank Kratovil, D-MD 1). He voted against the legislation. I didn't think he had it in him. He's made Republican Andy Harris' job even more difficult in unhorsing him.

4. I cannot even think about the photos of the Speaker, the Majority Leader and the President basking in the glow of their accomplishment. It makes me queasy.

5. But make no mistake about it. This is a HUGE legislative victory for the President and the Democratic Party. They have DELIVERED. Elections matter, they did what they needed to do in 2006 and 2008, and now we have this monstrous instantiation of creeping socialism to remind us of it.

6. If the Republican Party can't use this "loss" as a spur to great victory in November 2010, it will be guilty of political malpractice. There is a lot here to run against, and there are a lot of Democrats whose vote last night ought to be considered a political suicide note.

7. This legislative session is dead. The President may try and raise immigration reform, green jobs, cap and trade, school reform---etc--but Washington is TIRED, and all thoughts will now turn to fund-raising and November elections.

Are Republicans Ready For 2010?

Two articles you may have missed beg the same rhetorical question - are Republicans ready to lead should the 2010 elections go their way?

The first, by Ramesh Ponnuru, provides some needed cold water to Republicans' perceived overconfidence on their 2010 prospects. Ponnuru points to five factors that could work against Republicans come November. He ends:

"The better Republicans' prospects become, the more Americans are going to ask whether the party is ready to lead. Chairman Steele recently said that he wasn't sure it was. It was another gaffe; it was also true."

The second article is from Peggy Noonan, and posits that passage of the health care reform bill will amount to a "catastrophic victory" for Democrats. Noonan feels the Obama Administration misread and overestimated its mandate, choosing to stake its and Democrats' collective fortunes on a massive, expensive, and confusing health care bill when the public sentiment was focused more on jobs, the economy and the deficit.

While Noonan doesn't question probable Republican electoral gains, she does express concern that the party lacks a cohesive message and is ill-equipped to lead:

"They do not see that 2010 could be a catastrophic for them. If they seize power without a clear purpose, if they are not serious, if they do the lazy and cynical thing by just sitting back and letting the Democrats lose...Republicans themselves will be left unable to lead when their time comes."

The elections are only ten months away, still plenty of time for Democrats to reverse their negatives. Is it enough time for Republicans to reverse theirs?

Get Ready for November 2010

Here's a little video to inspire you. Still not quite sure why any one would argue with the success of TARP, but the rest of it is pretty good.

H/T Instapundit