This editorial from friend, Erick Erickson, was just too perfectly written to miss:

Senate GOP Decides to Improve Health Care Bill so it Can Pass

From the post:

Having started from the presupposition that the health care legislation is going to pass, the GOP seems to be signaling it will work to “improve” the legislation just enough to overcome a filibuster.

The legislation has 57 votes already. The GOP does not need to offer amendments to improve the bill — they need to bring it to a vote and kill it. Preening for cameras and favorable press coverage is going to get the bill to 60 votes and a signing ceremony.

Read this short commentary-- it is a MUST.

True, the Representative from Louisiana's 2nd District was the only Republican to vote "aye" on Pelosi Care. Yes, that makes him a tempting target for retribution by angry conservatives. And let me say clearly before going on: I detest his vote as much as the rest of you.

In this case, however, there's no reason to spend much time worrying about Anh Joseph Cao.

Essentially, he only represents this overwhelmingly Democrat district because he edged out an incumbent found with nearly $100k in his freezer and because a circumstance led the vote for his seat not to be held on election day in November-- Obama wasn't on the ticket in this majority black district.

In other words: it doesn't matter how strong the GOP tide next November, this seat is going back to the Dems in 2010.

Does this excuse his vote? And would I go as far as my friend, Quin Hillyer, who recently wrote, "He's an honorable, incredibly hard-working, inspirational young representative who is doing his darnedest to do a good job in a district ordinarily incredibly hostile to conservatives and Republicans of all stripes. More power to him."

No. But as Quin also pointed out, Cao never proclaimed to be a fiscal conservative, and he signaled all along that he'd probably vote for healthcare. In truth: any vote the GOP gets from him over the next year is merely a bonus.

If anything, there was actually an odd silver lining his vote: the national GOP apparatus is going to loudly tell you otherwise in coming months, but donors simply shouldn't waste any money on this race. Indeed, angry donors are reportedly already pulling their support from Cao, which is valuable as it leaves those dollars available for other, more important battles.

Hopefully the national party will be similarly restrained with its resources, but don't hold your breath on that one.

NY-23 was the right cause. And conservatives should gear up for a fight in next year's Florida GOP Senate primary. But don't waste time and energy going after Anh Joseph Cao.

Move along, nothing to see here...

If you live in the vicinity of Washington, D.C., consider going down to the capitol building today at noon, EST, to join the Congressional "house call" in protest of the looming healtcare vote in the House.

For more info, please give a listen to my short conversation about the event with Congressman Steve King of Iowa:

(click the button to play)

And if you're not in the area, the Tea Party Patriots will be have live online coverage here.

Running to catch a plane home from Sacramento... should have a chance to post later.
-CH

This might be a first: unless my eyes deceive me, Carly Fiorina formally announced her Senate candidacy on the O.C. Register's editorial page this morning.

The paper may have Chuck DeVore to thank for that development because it's clear Carly's rushing her announcement to take the news cycle away from last night's endorsement of DeVore by the GOP's brightest light in the Senate, Jim DeMint.

Reportedly, what was supposed to happen this week was a series of warm-up events leading to an official Fiorina announcement in Northern California in a couple of days. Instead, this.

It's actually the right play, by my estimation, because the DeMint endoresement will give DeVore serious legs.

I'm out of the office so this will probably be my only post today, but one other interesting tidbit: not surprisingly, I'm told John McCain aggressively lobbied to stop the DeMint endorsement.

No such luck, Mav.

Oh, and while I've been thinking we'll come to find out that Fiorina is more conservative than most of us expect, you do have to say that in addition to McCain, her Senate backers at her big D.C. fundraiser coming up in February reads like a rogue's gallery of wayward Republicans: Graham, Collins, Snowe-- blech!

Trying not to add to the "with friends like these" syndrome which I believe will hurt Fiorina more than it helps her, interestingly, is the NRSC.

Oh, she already has its support, but you're not seeing anything about it today--something else I think is smart. Wear those scarlet letters and you're, well, Charlie Crist.

Carly announced today in a rush. The real news happened last night, though, because DeMint's endorsement may just help DeVore raise the money he needs to make this a fight.

The Scozzafava regret list is on the rise, with two high-profile names expressing shock, actually, not remorse:

Gingrich "Deeply Upset" that Scozzafava Endorsed Democrat After Supporting Her

Boehner Regrets Scozzafava Support

From the Boehner article, this quote:

"This lady clearly has an agenda that's different than most Republicans," Boehner said of Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race Saturday.

The problem with Boehner's statement is: her different agenda was plainly visible for all to see a long time ago. If it weren't, Hoffman would never have received the conservative support that he did. Vision would be a desirable trait in a Minority Leader.

From the article about Newt, an even sillier statement:

"I'm very, very let down because she told everybody she was a Republican, and she said she was a loyal Republican."

Yeah, Newt-- and Tim Geithner says he wants a strong dollar.

There are some things we hear which are simply absurd on their face because they contradict so much existing evidence. The record in Scozzafava's case was plain to see.

I don't mean to pile onto Newt and I don't think it's going to be productive for Hoffman supporters to endlessly beat up those who backed Hoffman, but the "I can't believe it's not butter" card from someone as experienced as Gingrich just doesn't wash. Just say, "I made a mistake," which seems an impossibility for politicians.

Most of us were in shock when Newt backed the RINO; increasingly, it feels like he's not going to be able to extracate himself from this one in time for 2012.

Given our course, it's not a ridiculous question. And it's a must-read op-ed from Robert Samuelson, posted here without further comment:

Could America Go Broke?