Happy Dependence Day!  — By: Mark Steyn  —  Well, it seems to be in the bag now.  I try to be a sunny the-glass-is-one-sixteenth-full kinda guy, but it's hard to overestimate the magnitude of what the Democrats have accomplished.  Whatever is in the bill is an intermediate stage …

Fear Strikes Out  —  The day before Sunday's health care vote, President Obama gave an unscripted talk to House Democrats.  Near the end, he spoke about why his party should pass reform: “Every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes …

Waterloo  —  Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.  —  It's hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster.  Conservatives may cheer themselves that they'll compensate for today's expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections.

Health Care Reform's Winners and Losers  —  It doesn't take a rocket scientist—or even an alleged expert such as this reporter —to see that the big political winner in tonight's House vote is the president of the United States.  After a year and a half of fitful but increasingly focused effort …

Perspective  —  Now that it's done, Barack Obama will go down in history as one of America's finest presidents.  It's always possible of course that, like LBJ, he'll get involved in some unrelated fiasco that mars his reputation.  But fundamentally, he's reshaped the policy landscape …

Romney: ‘Unconscionable abuse of power’  —  Extremely strong language from Mitt Romney, who the administration and his Republican rivals love to note gets some credit for the shape of the health care plan.  —  Now, Romney is positioning himself as a leader of the charge to repeal it:

Obama's health-care overhaul passes the House … WASHINGTON — By a narrow, partisan margin of 219-212 the House approved massive health-care legislation tonight that supporters said would cover 32 million uninsured Americans, expand Medicaid, protect consumers from unfair insurance limits …

Conservative Blogger Calls For Obama's Assassination On Twitter (Updated)  —  Earlier today, self-described conservative blogger Solomon “Solly” Forell posted a tweet that included a call for assassination, as well as this line: “We'll surely get over a bullet 2 Barack Obama's head!”  It gets worse:

Obama's Share Determined Dems' Votes on ObamaCare  —  What was the single biggest determinant of whether a Democrat voted yea or nay on the health care bill yesterday?  Actually, it isn't too hard to figure out:  —  This reflects the breakdown in the roll call based on the percentage …

McCain: Don't expect GOP cooperation the rest of this year  —  Democrats shouldn't expect much cooperation from Republicans the rest of this year, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned Monday.  —  McCain and another Republican senator decried the effect health reform legislation has had on the Senate …

How To Say It?  —  Well, here goes.  I really resent the term, but I use it because it's recognized and accepted.  —  I'm gay.  —  From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there's not much “gay” about being homosexual.  For the first twenty years of my life …

Attorneys general in 12 states poised to challenge healthcare bill  —  As soon as President Obama signs the healthcare bill into law, the attorneys general say they will challenge its constitutionality.  The mandate to buy insurance is at the center of the controversy.

Famous Last Words  —  Fred Barnes, January 20: … As someone who makes a lot of bad predictions, I'm going to offer everyone advice that you want to try to make sure your predictions aren't totally categorical.  ObamaCare looks dead, for example.  Heck, if you're feeling super-confident, just go ahead and say ObamaCare is dead.