John Kitzhaber and Cylvia Hayes

Part of the funding for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was supposed to help states set up their own health care exchanges. Many of those exchanges crashed and burned. Oregon was especially egregious. Much of the $305 million spent on the state’s exchange was flat-out wasted. The website never came close to actually working. But never fear – the Feds want their money back!

Oh, wait, just kidding. The Feds want money back all right. About $800,000. That total is funds that were spent on items that were “not allowable.” That’s right – the Feds are trying to claw back all of 0.26% of total spending. The rest, apparently, is the state’s participation trophy from the Feds. Nothing to see here, just normal and necessary expenses.

You may also recall that former Governor John Kitzhaber who resigned in the wake of scandals surrounding his relationship with staffer/consultant/marijuana entrepreneur wannabe Cylvia Hayes. Investigations are ongoing. But Kitzhaber and Hayes have the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card: they are lifelong Democrats.