The Senate’s passing the bipartisan First Step Act, an important piece of criminal-justice reform legislation, brings up four thoughts: 1) Reasonable bipartisan legislation remains possible in Washington; 2) The libertarian strain in the Republican party remains alive if not exactly robust; 3) Mitch McConnell is probably the most effective operator in Washington; 4) No. 2 and No. 3 are the key to No. 1., which suggests that if the Republicans want to get something useful done with a Democratic majority in the House, they should start with corporate welfare.