Monday, April 28, 2008

Legislative Non-Action is Half a Loaf

A View from Alaska

By John LaPlante

Categories: Alaska

In an editorial the Anchorage Daily News, the leading newspaper of Alaska, chides Gov. Sarah Palin for not pushing government-run health care.

"She can't rely on platitudes such as fixing the system by having individuals take more responsibility for their own health care," the paper says. Granted, there's more to improving health than simply saying "get your own health care." Government needs to undo some of the damage that it has already done through, oh, certificate of need laws (which the ADN editorial board supports) and giving tax equity so that people who buy health insurance outside of either corporate or government bureaucracies are not disadvantaged.

It also criticizes her for not supporting "a modest expansion of the state health insurance program for children of working families." (See all our discussion on SCHIP to understand why this is a bad idea.)

Now if Gov. Palin could indeed provide some specific leadership on the question --and perhaps she has, I'm not familiar with her record--she would be my kind of governor!