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Say what you will about Minnesota, what with electing Al Franken and all as their Senator, but at least their Governor has some sense.

Tim Pawlenty's been crisscrossing the country for weeks now talking politics and ideas. He's especially vocal about healthcare and critical of Obama's plan.  In this op-ed in yesterday's WaPo, he sounds like a true-blue conservative and says Obama should look at how some state's handle health care to see how the country's plan should follow suit.

In Minnesota, our state employee health-care plan has demonstrated incredible results by linking outcomes to value. State employees in Minnesota can choose any clinic available to them in the health-care network they've selected. However, individuals who use more costly and less-efficient clinics are required to pay more out-of-pocket.

By contrast, he sums up Massachusetts's plan:

While the Massachusetts plan has reduced the number of uninsured people, costs have been dramatically higher than expected. The result? Increased taxes and fees. The Boston Globe has reported on a current short-term funding gap and the need to obtain a new federal bailout.

Imagine the scope of tax increases, or additional deficit spending, if that approach is utilized for the entire country.

How can Obama refute such a difference? If he could, his plan could work, but as it stands he can't; his plan is bound to mirror the mess of Massachusetts.

Either way conservatives read that and say, well, duh.

Obama and cronies on the other hand, read that and say, well darn, I'm sure our plan will work out better for the country than it did for Massachusetts.