Pardon me as I make no effort to conceal my elation

We are coming up on the 8 month anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). To commemorate this auspicious event let's take a moment to remember the joy on the faces of Democrats as they passed the loathsome law:

There were celebratory hugs and champagne toasts too:

They're not laughing anymore:

Freshman Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.), who lost her reelection bid, wiped away tears as she hugged fellow members of the class of 2008, many of whom lost on Nov. 2.

Less than three feet away, ousted Nevada freshman Rep. Dina Titus (D) appeared to brush away some tears in a less obvious manner.

The mood was much different on the other side of the aisle.

Joyful House GOP lawmakers, who will take control of the House in January with at least 85 new members, made no effort to conceal their elation.

Pardon me as I make no effort to conceal my elation  

Donald Douglas is singing "Cry Me a River"  Another Black Conservative chimes in
More "Happy Days are Here Again" at Memeorandum
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Shocking News Item: Sebelius Threatens Insurers

Kathleen Sebelius penned a threatening note to Karen Ignagni, lobbyist for AHIP (health insurance) warning insurers they dare not try to take advantage of the Democrats' failure to include the exclusion for pre-existing conditions in their prized piece of legislation.  Why should the disapprobation of the insurers stop now, after they willingly cooperated with Democrats for more than a year?  Chief Cheerleader for all things health care at The Washington Post gives the alternate title: Sebelius to Insurers: Make my day.  These are the children in charge of the country.

Sebelius absurdly threatens to do what Democrats seem to specialize in these days, issue an executive fiat to paper over their ineptitude at governing.  If that doesn't work they can always drag a few holdouts before Congress for a bit of public humiliation.  Ezra Klein counts the many ways insurers lose because Democrats can't keep track of what they included and/or promised in their mountainous legislation:

The losers here are actually the insurers. As far as I can tell, their reading of the law is legitimate. And they have a lot to lose from a fight with the administration. It's not obvious that Sebelius actually can change this with a stroke of her pen, but there are plenty of other things she can do with a stroke of her pen that will make the insurance industry's life very, very difficult. And since this policy actually isn't a very big deal -- fairly few kids are uninsured because their preexisting conditions are keeping them off their parents' plan -- I'd guess that the administration and the insurers reach some sort of accord on this.

I am still baffled why Democrats think none of this will backfire on them when a HHS Secretary is given this much power under a Republican administration.  Sebelius can't force the insurers help cover over Democrats' failure to write coherent legislation, though she isn't above trying.  Surely, *asking* for the insurers to cooperate in light of the Democrats own blunder is too much to hope for.  The only alternative this administration finds acceptable is to run roughshod over whoever or whatever is in their way.  What will they ever do about themselves?

DCCC Fuel For the Turkey Day Food Fight

As you head out over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house for a fine Thanksgiving turkey, consider yourself forewarned that cousin Cathy and Aunt Alice, the family flaming libs, have been armed with Democrat talking points to stoke the fire in the annual Thanksgiving political brawl.   Control issues much?  The downloadable cheat sheet gives a list of potential myths the family conservatives might trot out and supplies the family liberals with "facts" for effective "myth-busting."


 First off, the term myths, as used by liberals, requires an Inigo Montoya retort: " You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."  The cheat sheet begins with the "myth" "Democrats haven't done anything this year."  The DCCC provides the following facts to prove "House Democrats and President Obama have delivered more progress for America this year than George Bush and the Republicans did in the last eight."  For your convenience I have included a sample snarky response, in red of course,  in case someone in the family comes bearing a  DCCC cheat sheet: