Nancy Pelosi's Legacy

The Obamacare mess.

A new analysis by the Washington Post shows that a provision of Obamacare dealing with high-risk patients is attracting far fewer participants than expected but still costs vastly more than projected -- a bad omen for the law's other programs. And that is on top of earlier reports showing that Obamacare will actually bend the cost curve upward, not downward; that many companies are curtailing or planning to curtail coverage offered to employees and retirees; and that its core provision, the individual mandate, might well be unconstitutional.

It's a mess. And as this Congress ends, and a new Congress considers repeal, it's worth remembering the unusual and fleeting circumstances that led to its passage.

Obamacare is the product of a brief moment of total Democratic dominance in Washington. Key to that dominance was a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority. It wasn't a sure bet for Democrats; despite victories in 2008, the party's hopes for that majority depended on the outcome of a contested race in Minnesota. After a controversial recount, Al Franken became the 60th Democratic senator on July 7, 2009, giving Democrats an unassailable edge.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/obamacare-mess-legacy-dems-moment-power#ixzz19hGGdgnT