UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE IN THE WHIOTE HOUSE HAS EVER RUN SO MUCH AS A STATE:

Senators Hear Concerns Over Costs of Health Proposal (ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN, 8/07/09, NY Times)

Senior members of the Senate Finance Committee, trying to put together a bipartisan bill to guarantee health insurance for all Americans, were told Thursday that their proposals might be unaffordable to states and to many low-income people.

Governors expressed concern about the cost to states, while Democratic senators said they were worried about the cost to those of modest means. [...]

After the call, Mr. Baucus said that it would be impossible for the federal government to pick up all the costs for new Medicaid recipients and that states would have to bear some of the costs.

Governors said they had pushed back hard against this idea, which they describe as an unfunded mandate.