The laws of economics can be frustratingly inconvenient, especially in Washington. To many lawmakers, the fundamental principles of economics are neither fundamental nor even principles: They are tools to be bent, warped, and manipulated or outright ignored in order to yield up the answers those lawmakers want.

So it is that Democrats love to argue that raising taxes on things automatically yields more tax revenue for the government. They would have you believe that if you bought ten Big Macs at a cost of $5 each, you would also buy ten if the price were $7.50 after a tax increase. Economics teaches us that people just don’t act like that — it’s called elasticity of demand — even if lawmakers don’t understand.

Another example: By ignoring economic principles, the Congressional Budget Office — supposedly full of people who have at least studied economics — misjudged the number of people who would sign up for Medicaid under ObamaCare by at least 130 percent. It turns out that people really like free stuff.

Sadly, Republicans can be just as unwilling to acknowledge the same basic, fundamental principles as their left-leaning colleagues.

Thus it was this last week, when White House........

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