Ezra Klein on the Obama administration's decision to embrace the reforms to the Affordable Care Act proposed by Sens. Scott Brown and Ron Wyden, which would give individual states more room to experiment:
But now that Obama has admitted it's not a threat to the Affordable Care Act, a lot of the appeal for Republicans dissipates. Supporting it could even be seen as helping the White House in its efforts to defend the law against repeal. So the idea looks likelier to become a talking point for the administration -- see how reasonable we're being? -- than an outlet for Republicans. But perhaps that doesn't matter: Wyden-Brown hasn't attracted any Republican co-sponsors beyond Scott Brown, so maybe it never had a chance of playing its intended part anyway.
I'm not optimistic about this going anywhere. The Affordable Care Act has taken on too much symbolism for the Republican base as something that must be destroyed. It doesn't matter if Wyden-Brown actually gives Republicans what they're asking for in terms of policy. You might as well ask Captain Ahab to reach a compromise with Moby Dick.
