The Democrats Deal With the Devil – WSJ

Let s understand what happened back in South Carolina. One of literature s great allegories is the story of Dr. Faustus, who in return for receiving great powers from the devil, agreed to let Mephistopheles come for his soul sometime in the future. By throwing the party behind Mr. Biden, Rep. Clyburn and the Democrats made a conscious Faustian bargain.

The conceit now, or euphemism, in every conversation or poll is that Mr. Biden is too old. As in the 25th Amendment s capacity concerns. But the Biden inner circle knew in February 2020 that the former vice president was already on the brink of being too old. Thus the Delaware-basement campaign. But by committing to Mr. Biden, the Democrats got possession of the powers of the presidency for four years. They also got a passive president who held open the door for the largest outpouring of spending and regulation in generations.

Now that fellow on the other side of Faustian bargains has shown up to tell the Democrats their payment is due. After giving them four years of extraordinary power, he s taking back Joe Biden. What lies ahead for the Biden-less party could be a hard slog.

Democrats, especially in the White House, are frustrated they re getting no credit for the economy s positive indicators strong job growth, low unemployment and until recently a strong stock market. More intriguingly, the U.S. public seems unimpressed with, almost ungrateful for, the trillions the Democrats spent on Covid-era transfer payments and subsidies.

via www.wsj.com

Daniel Henninger.