The latest buzzword among those determined to undermine federal involvement in everything from health care to environmental regulation is "compact." Take, for example, House Bill 1273 (the so-called "HOPE Act"), which recently passed the Colorado House and will be heard in the Senate early next week. It is supposed to be about allowing Colorado to "design the health care regulatory regime that best meets the needs of its citizens."(1) In reality, it's about opting out of the national health care reform law with nothing to replace it.
