FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I'M FREE AT LAST – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  This is Nancy Pelosi's last day as speaker of the House.  Today she hands the gavel to John Boehner of Ohio, freeing us of the wild, spendthrift 111th Congress.

Republicans are in control in the House, and far stronger in the Senate.  But, sadly, the defeat of many moderate Democrats in November means the Democratic Party is even more leftist today than it was before the election.  Please notice that I say "leftist," not "liberal."  Liberalism is an honorable tradition, and I deeply respect the national-defense liberals who were instrumental in organizing this nation to fight the Cold War against Communism. 

The left, however, is something else.  It grabs power, it regards the truth casually, and it shows a contempt for democracy.  Internationally, it abandons human rights, and is often intrigued, in a sickening way, with dictators like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

Despite attempts by some left-wing journalists to blur the two, there is a great difference between liberal and left.

Republicans will be off and running today, as WaPo reports:

Almost as soon as they take control of the House at noon Wednesday, Republicans will embark on a 20-day plan aimed at undoing major aspects of President Obama's agenda as they seek to take advantage of the weeks before the Senate's return and the president's State of the Union address.

The first move will come Friday, when the House begins the process of repealing the new health-care law. House leaders will then quickly begin to identify tens of billions of dollars in proposed spending cuts and to ease regulations that businesses find burdensome.

Much of what Republicans do will be symbolic, given that Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. But the quick action will allow Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the incoming speaker, and House Republicans to follow through on campaign pledges and to try to establish their party as a bulwark against what they see as an out-of-control government.

COMMENT:  The key issue initially will be health care.  The GOP will not succeed in repealing Obamacare, but the repeal vote, which will succeed in the House only, will be the first step in reshaping that abominable piece of legislation, and improving it.  That will be the test:  Can Republicans improve things, not just denounce them.

Test begins right now.

January 5, 2011