The Failed 112th Congress

So much for a honeymoon period.

The new Republican majority in the House is learning already that governing is harder than campaigning.

They vow to repeal President Obama’s health reform. But they say they want to reduce the deficit, too, so one of their rules requires that any new legislation be paid for fully.

Here’s the problem: The health care reform includes new taxes and a tough cut in Medicare spending. It actually reduces the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. So if you kill health reform, the rules require that you find offsetting spending cuts or tax increases to plug that gap.

So Republicans have decided to exempt health reform from the rule. That deficit they talked so much about during the campaign? Never mind.

We haven’t seen this kind of hypocrisy in Washington since ... a few weeks ago, when Republicans insisted on extending tax cuts to the wealthy and didn’t pay for that either.

Of course if was the golden boy in the White House who signed that legislation. Oh, never mind.

Can't wait to see the scathing analysis of Day 2 of the 112th Congress.

As to repealing ObamaCare, Constitutional scholar Ezra Klein suddenly is concerned with deficit spending.