THEY'VE BEEN DYING TO DO IT

On a largely party-line 43-30 vote, the Assembly approved a bill by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, that would eliminate private medical insurance plans and establish a statewide health insurance system that would provide coverage to all Californians. The state Senate has already approved the plan once and is expected this week to approve changes that the Assembly made to the bill.

Schwarzenegger has said he opposes a single-payer plan like the one Kuehl's bill would create, but the governor has not offered his own alternatives for fixing the state's health care system. As many as 7 million people are uninsured in the state, and spiraling costs have put pressure on business and consumers.

"We know the health care in place today is teetering on collapse," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. "We need to do something to improve it, to reform it, and this is what we are bringing to the table."

First, the system we have now is still the best in the world so his first quote is nonsense. Healthcare is a victim of its own success. The more medical improvements and drugs that come to market, the longer our lifespans and quality of life. The downside is that this costs money. I don't see why the taxpayer has to fund every last medical improvement for strangers. And as far as public health goes, I think people will tend to be even less cautious about their health if they perceive that doctors are standing by for "free" to solve their problems.

The biggest complaints now are that people do not have access to that top notch care. This plan won't change that. The real result is that either private hospitals will spring up to provide that care for people with cash (if they're allowed) or the best medical care will migrate across the border to Nevada or Arizona.

The end result will be much like our education system. Everyone pays into it, few are happy with it, and the lucky ones will be able to pay out of pocket for the situation they like better. The middle class will be left to subsidize the poor as usual.

WORSE THAN ANY Y2K ERROR

A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana.

County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million.

Most local officials did not learn about the mistake until Tuesday, when 18 government taxing units were asked to return a total of $3.1 million of tax money. The city of Valparaiso and the Valparaiso Community School Corp. were asked to return $2.7 million. As a result, the school system has a $200,000 budget shortfall, and the city loses $900,000.

Officials struggled to figure out how the mistake got into the system and how it could have been prevented. City leaders said Thursday the error could cause layoffs and cost-cutting measures.

This shows how government will always eat whatever food you put in front of it, whether or not they really need it. Valparaiso will now do with less. Orlando could learn a lesson.

I've always thought the library was one of the best uses of tax money and Orlando has a great system. I paid about $40 in property taxes last year that went directly to the library system and they fine the heck out of people for late returns. The two together result in a multi-million dollar budget they can't begin to spend. Now the library is practically a blockbuster video store with a ton of DVD titles. Lately, they began stocking X-Box games. Too much money. And yet the county complains that they don't have enough money for schools.