I just came across an interview that I will suggest we all may have missed and perhaps charts the way out of this health care reform wilderness we now seem to be in.
It was on February 2nd and was between the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein and rising Republican House star Paul Ryan (WI).
Ezra asked Ryan about the bipartisan Wyden-Bennett bill as a place for both sides to find common ground. It’s a bill that blends the Democratic notion that everyone needs to be covered sooner rather than later with the Republican idea that we use tax credits to make people better consumers. And, the bill pays for itself on the front-end.
Ryan responded, “I have a lot of respect for that plan. If I were a Democrat, it’s the bill I’d be on. He’s got more mandates than I’d like. But if Ron Wyden and I were in a room, we could hammer out a deal by tomorrow.”
“If Ron Wyden and I were in a room, we could hammer out a deal by tomorrow”?
Well if all you guys need is a room there are plenty of those on Capitol Hill.
I suggest Ron Wyden give Paul Ryan a call and get to it!