Take Oregon, for example. A state that jumped at the chance to run its own exchange, and happily cashed federal grant checks for more than $300 million to build its enrollment web site. A web site that, to date, has yet to enroll a single resident. Everyone there has has to fill out paper forms, almost certainly driving up its costs even further.

It's gotten so bad that Republican lawmakers at the federal level want some of its money back, especially if the state decides to scrap its web site and joint HealthCare.gov. The Hill is reporting "four Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting a review of the $304 million in federal grants that Oregon received to build its broken website."

"With the March 31 deadline for open enrollment fast approaching, the state of Oregon will need to make a decision on the fate of Cover Oregon soon," the letter reads. "The catastrophic breakdown of Cover Oregon is unacceptable, and taxpayers deserve accountability."

Things aren't much better in Maryland, where the state exchange is seriously behind on its enrollment goal. They're not even halfway to their 76,000 target number. And, yes, more lawmakers want that state investigated as well, where they wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services, "By the end of the year, over $100 million federal dollars will have been spent on a project that should have cost much less, and doesn't work."

And, finally, right here in our home state, The Denver Post reports that Connect for Health Colorado Director Christa Ann McClure was indicted last week in Montana for eight counts of fraud and theft from a nonprofit housing project. She's since been placed on administrative leave.

These are just handful of bad apples stinking up the whole barrel. But it doesn't bode well for the success of this law on any level. And its a stark reminder that while local control is almost always the best solution, its no panacea as long as politicians are involved.