Mr. Brown Goes to Washington

Scott Brown (R-MA) won the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat. As the 41st Republican Senator, he finds himself in a powerful position. In his press conference this morning, he said that (1) he favors state-level health programs like the Massachusetts Health Care Program, (2) he favors health care reform at the national level, (3) he is independent, even though he will caucus with Republicans, (4) he wants to solve problems rather than take ideological positions and (5) he seems to get along with President Obama.

I'm not sure where Mr. Brown stands on all health care issues (and he might not be entirely sure either), but there are plenty of problems to solve. As a problem solver, he should support a divide-and-conquer strategy. Let's take what can be agreed on in the current legislation (e.g., health insurance reform), pass it and move on to other problems on the list.

Let's also call him (and Orin Hatch, R-Utah) on state-level programs taking a page from the successful Race To The Top education grant reform program: put money on the table and States will go far out of their way to compete for it, to the amazing extent of quickly changing laws to qualify for the funding. How about a Race To The Top for health reform?

Good luck in Washington, Mr. Brown. Use your power for good while you've got it.