The political shenanigans contorting reform of US health care show, yet again, the towering virtue of governmental self-restraint. To question state activism, of course, is to risk being branded as a reflexive government-hater. Yet it requires no such predisposition to see that legislation affecting all Americans has been corrupted. And it requires no such predisposition to want to shoo political vultures away from other crucial issues—such as energy.On health care, Democratic lawmakers began with the lavish ambitions of President Barack Obama and have been contending with reality ever since. Inevitably, as details emerged about costs and consequences, public support for politically...