House Committee in Chaos; Emperor is Naked

The House Rules Committee "descended into chaos" today -- as described by Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York -- after committee member Henry Waxman, D-California, said:

"We're not going to 'deem' the bill passed. We're going to pass the Senate bill…I would be against the idea of 'deeming' something -- we either pass it or we don't."

It seems the emperor indeed is stark naked. Whether or not it uses the "Demon Pass" procedure, which is awkward and unconstitutional (a bad combination), the House is approving the Senate version of the health care bill "as is" and it will likely go to President Obama in that fashion.

Maybe, or maybe not, to be amended later. A leap of faith, in other words, for anyone who votes "yes" thinking that the bill will be improved on the Senate side.

The attempt to provide themselves some sort of electoral "deniability" is presenting all sorts of parliamentary problems, and the American people are not fooled.

Not this time.

The Progressives may succeed in passing health care "reform" against the will of the American people, but they will pay a heavy price in November. And undoubtedly there will be so many constitutional challenges that even the socialist minions of the Obama administration may find it difficult to put the new regime into place.

The emperor has not yet swept away the last vestiges of the Republic, despite his "naked" power grab.