If some pundits want to make a case that the Tea Party is dead, or dying, they might want to check with the New York Times. The paper of record rightly points out that in the people’s house, not only are conservatives and conservatism alive and well, they are actually “ascendant.”

But while the Senate passed a bill a year ago with some Republican support, there was no urgency to follow suit in the House, where conservatives dominate and the Tea Party is ascendant. In announcing the action, Mr. Obama signaled that he is increasingly willing to act unilaterally to carry out elements of his agenda that are stalled on Capitol Hill, even as he faces Republican criticism for his use of executive power.





It might also be prudent for Republicans intent on running against Barack Obama in the mid-terms to acknowledge that it’s conservatives and the Tea Party that are standing up to his damaging policies, as opposed to what purports to be the republican leadership in D.C.





