Forget the cheerleading out of the Democratic Party. And thedoomsayers in the GOP. How is PPACA really doing?

That's what The New York Times set out to answer in apretty comprehensive—and downright impressive—series of storiesthat essentially serve as a mammoth fact check of the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act.

First, has the law actually reduced the number of uninsuredpeople in this country?

The short answer is yes, according to the Times, cuttingthe number of those without insurance by about a quarter—orsomewhere around 8 million to 11 million.

So, yes, it's fair for Democrats to say the law is doing what itwas meant to do—at least in that respect.

However, Republicans—and other critics—can easily counter that,as that number is pacing behind original administration and CBOestimates. And, two, only about half of those people bought privatehealth insurance policies, with the other half now comfortably onMedicaid. Obviously that doesn't bode well for our budget.

But the Times also asked whether the law had fulfilledits other goal of reducing health care spending. And, again, theanswer is "yes, but…"

Sure, spending has slowed somewhat since last year's openenrollment, but the economy has more to do with that than PPACA.Besides, with consumers ponying up more of the costs for their ownhealth care than ever before, it turns out they've become much morejudicious about heading to the emergency room. Who knew?

And now, a Pew Research study shows that, in reference to thelast election, "splitting reached an all-time low in 2012 with only13 percent of voters selecting a different political party for theU.S. Senate than the U.S. House."

I'd bet anything that as little as 30 years ago, that ratio wasreversed. Now, despite greater access to education and informationthan at any time in human history, we do little more than vote theway we're told.

Between that and my general disgust with Congress, I decided todo things differently before mailing in my vote in late October. Ivoted against every single incumbent—including judges—while castinga "no" for every ballot question, especially the one looking to puta casino down the street from my house.

We're all so quick to criticize Congress while steadfastlystanding up for "our guy." I say throw 'em all out, the lefties andthe righties.

We'd save at least as much as the first year of Medicaidenrollees are going to cost us…