The Lakota Sioux are a confederation of American Indians of the great plains of North America. In the 1730s, the Cheyenne introduced the Lakota to horses, and the Lakota became proficient buffalo hunters while developing a highly advanced horse culture.

My first exposure to Lakota culture was reading John G. Neihardt's superb book "Black Elk Speaks" when I was in high school. I haven't thought much about the Lakota since then, but recent events have reminded me of a phrase often attributed to those accomplished Lakota horsemen: "If you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."

Business pundits and others have used the phrase to create characterizations of executives who can't ever seem to let go of an idea, even well after its demise is apparent to everyone else. Watching the quagmire that PPACA has become, it is clear the Lakota's wisdom has not made its way to Washington.