Posted on 05/05/2005 5:59:59 AM PDT by OESY
The real political news in Vermont has been buried under recent headlines announcing the retirement of Sen. Jim Jeffords: The Vermont House has approved the most radical health care proposal ever to gain majority support in a state legislative chamber.
In its early days in the Union -- after 14 years as an independent republic -- Vermont was a bastion of 18th century radicalism dedicated to principles of "liberty and property." But shaped by the state's traditional town-meeting democracy, succeeding generations of Vermonters tempered this radical individualism. Until recently, however, Vermonters had steadfastly resisted big-government collectivism.
This great leap forward into socialized medicine can be traced to the governorship of Madeleine M. Kunin (1985-90). She was committed to a Canada-style single-payer system. But her plan faded as revenues declined....
In August 1991, when Gov. Kunin's Republican successor Richard Snelling died in office, part-time lieutenant governor and physician Howard Dean suddenly found himself Vermont's chief executive. Gov. Dean quickly distanced himself from the single-payer idea he had supported, favoring instead something called "regulated multipayer." Translation: Hillarycare.
Gov. Dean convinced the... legislature to create a Health Care Authority to come up with two proposals: a single-payer plan and a regulated multipayer plan....
All of this would seem to be a tempest in a very small teapot, but for one thing: Over the past 30 years, Vermont, with a liberal majority, a hive of activist left- wing organizations, and a press corps largely hostile to anything smacking of conservatism, has become the nation's premier blue-state testing ground for virtually every imaginable liberal proposal. Putting single-payer health care in place in Vermont would be an enormous breakthrough for the left. This year its advocates are closer to victory than ever before. If they ultimately succeed, the reverberations will be felt from coast to coast.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
They will end up sending everybody to Dartmouth Hitchcock anyway, making the New Hampsters pay for everything.
"Canada south...."
I've been saying that we ought to trade Vermont (as well as some other NE states) to Canada for everything west of Ontario. Maybe now's the time.
How about summarizing the rest of the article for us?
Fortunately, it was just Tennessee and not the whole nation
ditto the request for a summary of the rest of the article
The Oregon Health Care plan has died and been buried several times but the liberals keep digging up their Frankenstein and trying to make it live again.
FYGTH, just kidding.
I saw it when Dean was running for President and couldn't help but wonder how many of his patients were Canadian since the weathy son in the movie had to bring his very ill socialist father to (I think) Burlington, VT for tests!
Ironically Quebecers are the biggest supporters of a dual public and private system in Canada. Quebeckers after all don't derive their identity from being different than Americans. They like to be different from everyone, but thats besides the point.
Medicare is one thing, but restricting it to one tier is just class war socialistic pandering. Working Class vs. Upper Middle Professionals
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