Sapping Our Self-Reliance

Sapping Our Self-Reliance

Sometimes a snapshot tells an entire story. Take one of the signs at last year’s tea party rally in Washington, “Grandma’s not shovel-ready.” That summed up the anti-ObamaCare, pro-smaller government movement in a single image.

Something similar happened recently when Sen. Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky who isn’t seeking re-election, temporarily held up a $10 billion spending bill that was to extend temporary unemployment benefits, make Medicare payments to doctors and provide satellite TV for rural Americans.

Many on the Left painted Bunning as a cranky man who wanted to leave workers unemployed, without access to a...