A giant of the Senate

HE’S SEEN ’em come, he’s seen ’em go, and now Utah’s Orrin Hatch has decided to step down himself. With considerable urging from all those tired of being represented in the upper chamber by someone of his experience, distinction and undeniable record of accomplishment.

He will carry with him the surest sign of a statesman: the ingratitude of those he has served so faithfully. Which in his case includes not only the people of Utah but those of all these United States of America.

In his long and signal career, Senator Hatch has shown he knows when to lead a filibuster, as when he opposed a general and thoughtless overhaul of the country’s labor laws, and when not to. Like the time he teamed up with Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat from California, in a successful bipartisan push to encourage the production of cheaper generic drugs instead of leaving the country dependent on expensive name brands.

Back in the 1990s, Senator Hatch teamed up with Massachusetts’ Ted Kennedy to co-write the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which expanded health insurance for all the country’s poor kids.

As he gained in seniority, he may have saved his greatest accomplishment for last as he guided his party’s $1.5 trillion tax cut into law. While at it, the bill also repealed Obamacare’s requirement that most Americans have to buy health insurance. Call that move another triumph for freedom and for Americans’ freedom of choice.

On his way out, Senator Hatch left the door open for a promising successor: Mitt Romney, perhaps. When one door shuts, sure enough another one opens.