Elections Have Consequences

The fallout from the off year elections is always subject to debate. Obama's staffers blamed Creigh Deeds' loss in Virginia on his failure to join himself to the President closely enough. Republicans countered by noting Jon Corzine's loss in New Jersey despite his repeated efforts to do just that. One of the biggest questions going forward is the impact of these results on the health care debate in Congress.

The House of Representatives passed "reform" on a 220-215 vote, despite a huge Democratic advantage. That certainly does not bode well for the coming debate in the Senate where the GOP needs just one defector (and Lieberman has already declared he will oppose the public option) to sustain a filibuster. The question seems to come down to this--will their losses in the off year elections make the Democrats more afraid to push the issue or more desperate to do so?

There's little question that the window on this monstrosity is going to close soon...the real question seems to be which side of it the American people will be on when it closes. My hope is that the self preservation instinct will kick in and the incumbent donkeys will find a way to abort (they do believe in abortion don't they?) this thing before it completes the ruination of the ecnomy that has already been started with the "stimulus" bill. With unemployment north of 10% you would think the margin for action on a hugely expensive piece of legislation like this that will make employers much more reluctant to hire workers wouldn't even merit discussion...but when you consider the collective IQs of Pelosi, Reid, Biden and company, perhaps it isn't that surprising that they're pushing full speed ahead.