Free Republic

It was a carefully staged Norman Rockwell scene. The street was lined with American flags; a high school band played "God Bless America." Then, under the watchful gaze of Wal-Mart's chief operating officer, Maryland's governor vetoed a bill that would have obliged large businesses to spend more on employee health care. The news here isn't that some politicians wrap their deference to corporate interests in the flag. The news, instead, is that Maryland's State Legislature passed a pro-worker bill in the first place. In fact, the bill passed by a veto-proof majority in the Maryland Senate, and fell just short...

<p>PRESIDENT Bush's plan for Medicaid represents a fundamental change in the philosophy behind the health care program for poor and disabled Americans.</p> <p>It's a change California's congressional delegation should resist.</p> <p>Here's the current philosophy: The federal government will match the money states pay for health services to poor children and disabled adults. All states offer a basic level of services; if they offer more, the feds will match those dollars, too. Wealthier states like California receive roughly one federal dollar for every state dollar; poorer states like Mississippi receive more than $3.</p>