Arrivederci, America

As Benjamin Franklin has been quoted as saying at the time of America’s founding, he helped create “A republic, sir, if you can keep it.”

Which should be until, oh about sometime next week or so, when it’s Slaughtertime:

Via the Right Scoop, a tribute to the Madisonian genius who decided that Bill A — which would affect one-sixth of the American economy — can be “deemed” passed without a separate vote if Bill B is pushed through. So byzantine has the procedural framework become that I’m not sure if Pelosi’s still planning on using it. I thought not when I read Ed’s post earlier, but what about this bit from Politico on the Dems’ meeting this morning?

In addition, it looks like House Democrats won’t have to vote directly on a Senate bill they really don’t like. The speaker hasn’t made a final decision, but she told her rank-and-file during the meeting that the plan now is to craft a rule that would “deem” the Senate bill passed once they approve the package of fixes.

Apparently they are going to use it, albeit with the knowledge that Obama can only sign (and must sign) the underlying Senate bill, not the “fix,” before Reid proceeds to reconciliation. Which means that, for probably the first time in U.S. history, the president will be signing into law a bill that never received its own vote on the House floor. The “what if a Republican did it?” meme is overused, but clear your mind and try to imagine the media reaction if the Frist/Hastert Congress tried something like this for, oh, say, social security reform. If ever you’re tempted to agree with idiots on the left who think the press is balanced, let that thought experiment be your corrective.

Or as the Wall Street Journal dubs it, “ObamaCare — The Worst Deal of All Time.”