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Passage of the massive health-care overhaul was supposed to repair the sagging political fortunes of President Obama, Congress and the Democrats. It didn't. That's not just because of the unpopularity of ObamaCare, though certainly it's a factor. No, there's something more fundamental at work.

In 2008, America awoke from a binge of profligate borrowing, notably in housing, with a pounding economic hangover that brought the country to the brink of depression. The lesson was clear: We have to live within our means.