GOP governors leave health care up to the feds

>>> welcome back to "the ed show." governors on the republican side , what they wanted to do was to oversee the supreme court overturn the law. they couldn't stand obama care. when that didn't work out, they believed that mitt romney would become president and he would repeal it. that didn't work out either. so the affordable care act remains the law of the land and now the same republican governors are left scrambling. and today was a big day . today was the day that states were supposed to let the obama administration know whether or not they would be forming their own health insurance exchanges. here we go. it's a component to the law. it will allow households and small businesses shop for private insurance. and many states have dragged their feet on the deadline, perhaps expecting a different outcome to the presidential election. they requested an extension, states now have until mid-december to make their decision. if a state chooses not to set up an exchange, it can either share responsibility with the federal government or let the fed's handle it completely in their state. you'd think the conservative governors around the country would denounce the idea because of federal control that they would want to set up their own state exchange. think again.

>> scott walker decided to let the federal government implement exchanges.

>> there's the government takeover. but it was walker who made the decision. and you know what, he's not alone. bob mcdonald of virginia, why would he do that? he's letting the federal government set up the health ek change. who is that? john kasich of ohio is doing it too? and rick perry of texas? folks, the list goes on and on. walker explained his reasoning for leaving it up to the fed's earlier.

>> you're going to get a house, but the federal government is going to design the interior, all the amenities, the furniture, everything else and the only thing left is they ask you whether you want blinds or curtains, but you're getting the mortgage.

>> governor walker, you're not whining are you? folks, you know what this means? this means these republican governors who do not want obama care and they are going to turn it over to the fed's, what they are doing is setting up an exchange and setting up the system for us to down the road go to universal health care . brilliant move by the obama care folks, don't you think? joining me now is john nichols , washington correspondent. john, good to have you with us tonight. by rejecting the state-run exchanges, are these republicans paving the way for universal health care ?

>> i sure hope they are paving the way for universal health care , it's a great idea. but the fact of the matter is they are harming their own states . states are different. they have different levels of commitment to health care . many states have built out their own systems. and governor walker, who spoke about this building of a house was exactly wrong. in most states , you have the outlines of a house. what the federal government gave states the opportunity to do was to outfit that house as they chose to use what they already have in place. instead these governors are choosing a one-size-fits-all solution that will be worse in some cases. they are turning money back to the federal government at a time when we are supposed to be broke. these states that refuse to set up their own exchanges are turns tens of millions of dollars back to the federal government and doing it for only one reason and that's out of spite. they are mad at barack obama .

>> they are. but when it comes to the delivery system and the money that can be saved in the long haul, if the federal government comes into a state and sets up the mechanisms in place, doesn't it make it easier to get universal health care when that time comes?

>> absolutely, it does. and you know, this is the bizarre thing about their choice. the fact is that they could create unique and different systems in different states . when the affordable care act was passed, it was passed with flexibility. they thought states establish their own exchanges would get buy-in. instead they are refusing this and the end result is, we are going to have a much more nationalized program. it's going to be good for some states . some states have not done enough on health care . and those states will have better quality. but some states , the governors are cutting off their knows to spite their face.

>> meanwhile, congressman phil ging ri says it would be pointless to keep voting on full repeal of obama care. instead they would try to chip away at pieces of the law. is this going to be successful?

>> well, it's a little bit like we see on social security and medicare. there are folks who have never liked social security and medicare. so they are always trying to starve it, to privatize it, to undermine it in some ways. this is the strategy they seem to be adopting. but remember this, social security , medicare and medicaid have grown to be popular programs and the affordable care act will in short order be a popular program.

>> the governors who are turning it back and not implementing it, there's going to be states that do implement it. then the stories are going to start crossing state lines about who has the best delivery system. i think these republican governors down the road are going to pay a political price for not doing it the way they should be doing it. john nichols , thanks for being with us.

>>> coming up, talk of secession is so 1860 but it's not stopping thousands of americans from petitions to leave. stay