Lost in yesterday’s news was the victory by Democrat Sens. Ron Wyden and Olympia Snowe in getting price controls placed on pharmaceuticals. The amendment passed with Republican support, and allows Medicare to negotiate over prices for pharmaceuticals that are part of the Bush Administration’s prescription drug plan.

The official word is that these aren’t price controls. But, in fact, they are. Republicans privately were complaining that they couldn’t afford to alienate seniors with a “No” vote. It’s this lack of courage to do the right thing that not only makes the Republicans look bad to conservatives, but it feeds into the growing frustration with the Bush Administration. By saying no to Wyden-Snowe, they would have been saying no to the president’s drug plan, which would have been saving the President from himself. And that’s a good prescription.