Bush's Brain thought Paul Ryan's plan was a stroke of political genius (Jim Bourg/Reuters)



Bush's Brain thought Paul Ryan's plan was a stroke of political genius (Jim Bourg/Reuters)



What the country most needs—and what the GOP must now advocate—is a fundamentally new approach to containing health-care costs. The most promising model for Medicare comes from Clinton Budget Director Alice Rivlin and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.).

In February, Karl Rove urged Republicans to campaign on "containing" Medicare costs.

Of course, Alice Rivlin didn't actually support the plan that Rove described, which was the Ryan plan to repeal Medicare:

Under their plan, starting in 2021 those turning 65 and going on Medicare would get a fixed contribution to use to purchase insurance, allowing them in many instances to keep their existing coverage. Consumers will be in charge. Annual support would grow at the same yearly rate as the economy plus 1%. Medicare payments would be adjusted by income, geography and health risk. Poor seniors would get extra help for out-of-pocket expenses.

As we all know, the Ryan plan—the plan Rove recommended—effectively ends Medicare. It's so unpopular that it just cost Republicans a congressional election in a solidly red district, a district Republicans won with 74% of the vote in 2010 and carried by a 14-point margin in 2008. And yet Karl Rove thought it was a brilliant idea, proving yet again beyond a shadow of doubt the magnitude of his political genius—and how he earned the nickname "Bush's Brain."