219-212 in favor of a bill nobody actually read...

The House leadership had to pass this bill because they could not face their constituencies next year if they had not. They had to pass a bill, any bill. They prevailed 219-212.

That to me is good news. 219-212 without a complete reading means that it is a very sloppy bill. Because it is not "stimulus" (translate as pork barrel nobody would have voted for except in panic masking cynicism), it certainly contains some reckless policies, not just reckless spending. In the words of Will Rogers, "When Congress passes a law it's a joke, and when it tells a joke it's a law."

My hope is that the U.S. Senate butchers this bill beyond recognition, so that if it passes, no conference committee can put Humpty Dumpty together again. The House Democrats will get what they want, which is "climate change bill," and we will be spared the consequences of their foolishness.

The last time Congress raised taxes during a steep economic slide was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930. The Republicans in that case could pat themselves on the back for making the rise of National Socialism in Germany that much easier.