Repeal ― or Make a Deal?

Wherein Mitch Daniels proposes a "truce" on ObamaCare in the Wall Street Journal:

Many of us governors are hoping for either a judicial or legislative rescue from this impending disaster, and recent court decisions suggest there's a chance of that. But we can't count on a miracle—that's only permitted in Washington policy making. We have no choice but to prepare for the very real possibility that the law takes effect in 2014...

If there's to be a train wreck, we governors would rather be spectators than conductors. But if the federal government is willing to reroute the train to a different, more productive track, we are here to help.

[emphasis added]

I'm not encouraged by Daniels' use of the word "miracle" to describe repeal of Obamacare. Does Daniels think that repeal of Obamacare would be a miracle because he thinks a Republican is unlikley to win the White House in 2012? Does he think Republicans would somehow fail to repeal Obamacare if Americans entrust the GOP with opportunity to do so?

I understand there's a need for a "Plan B," but I see no reason to suggest that a repeal of Obamacare would be miraculous, even if the courts don't make it especially easy for us. And speaking of miracles, I see no reason to think that Obama and the Democrats would ever agree to the truce that Daniels has proposed.

Pointing to some red meat in Daniels' article, Jim Geraghty assures us that Daniels' proposal to reform the reform is not an "acquiescence to the permanence of Obamacare."

I hope Jim is right. But Mitch Daniels has not earned a reputation for an appreciation for smaller government:

“He’s kind of a more of a ‘trains run on time’ kind of guy, like a balanced budget kind of guy. He wants the government to be efficient but he doesn’t necessarily want it to be smaller... I get a sense from some of the things he’s done that his political instincts aren’t quite where they should be in a terms of limited government point of view. ”

Unfortunately, this new truce proposal from Mitch Daniels seems to comport with his reputation.

While conservatives are working night and day to derail the ObamaCare express before it derails our economy and our freedom, Mitch Daniels is thinking of ways to ensure that the train shows up on time, telling the Obama administration that he's "here to help."

I don't like that.

PS: Remember, this isn't Daniels' first time calling for a unilateral truce.

Update: Good questions from Protein Wisdom...

Is this the GOP trial balloon for “principled” compromise?

And if so, is this the kind of conservative-friendly usurpation of liberties that the Republicans believe they can sell to country at large?

Update II: I should hasten to add that anyone running for the GOP nomination for POTUS should seriously be considering the options relating to defunding Obamacare.

Update III: Mark Levin: I can’t vote for Mitch Daniels (2-14-11)

Update IV: Mitch Daniels’s Obamacare Problem: "Why is Governor Daniels extending the hand of peace . . . when Obamacare has been mortally wounded in the courts and the U.S. House of Representatives?"

Memeorandum thread

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