So Governor Brewer joined several other GOP governors to opt Arizona out of creating a state-run health insurance exchange and allow the federal government to set one up here instead. Brewer’s office insists their hands were tied because Obamacare did not give the state enough “flexibility” to blah blah blah whatever… The Republic‘s Linda Valdez theorizes that the Brewer admin was looking for an “easy way out of a fight with the GOP Legislature”, which sounds about right. As y’all remember, I find this to be a welcome development as I trust the Obama administration, which passed Obamacare and wants it to succeed, than I trust a bunch of Republicans who loathe the President and are still grumpy about the election with Obamacare. I like my healthcare to be as drama-free as possible.

Democratic legislators are not so sanguine about it. Both the Senate Democrats and House Democrats have issued press releases denouncing Brewer’s move. I had a lengthy Facebook and Twitter exchange with a Dem lawmaker who strenuously disagrees with me that a federally run exchange could work just dandy and perhaps better than a state-run one. And I’ll give that disagreement due consideration. Democratic legislators, being legislators, are infinitely more familiar with the workings of the state legislature than I and also more versed in matters of public policy. So they may be right that a state exchange offers efficiency and quality that can only come from local control. They may also be right that, had Brewer acceded to it, Democrats and Republicans in the legislature would have worked together to create a good state exchange. But as the quaint saying goes, if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle. It’s useless to pine for what isn’t going to happen. We’re going to get a federally-run exchange, and everything is probably going to be okay. That’s why I choose to celebrate this and point and laugh at the chuckleheaded conservatives in Arizona who are helping to grow the federal government push the country a step closer to single payer. Also, too, the co-pay free birth control!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to be totally okay. Governor Brewer is likely to opt out of the Medicaid expansion as well, with no federal silver lining. The only solution to that is to elect Democrats statewide in 2014.

Also, you can generate your own Keep Calm poster here. You’re welcome.