My job brings me into contact with folks all over the country. In many places, when people learn I’m from Massachusetts, I get either an awkward silence or bemused smirk, the choice often correlated with blood alcohol content. And when they find out that Barney Frank is my rep, things can get really weird: one time in Texas… ah we won’t go there.
Massachusetts has long been the most Liberal state in the Union, always in the vanguard of American progress. The American Revolution started here, as did public schools, legal labor unions, abolition of slavery, and gay marriage. Even RomneyCare (now RomneyObamaCare) started here – think what you will of the thing, at least it’s an effort help people out.
But friends, now it is time to relinquish our title. One of our neighbors to the north, Vermont, has concluded that trying to fix the health care system via RomneyObamaCare is like trying to turn a rat into a golden retriever by spraying it with gold glitter. The Vermont Senate has passed a bill establishing the first world-class health insurance system in the US for those under 65. Universal single-payer health insurance. It will start in 2014 (or possibly 2017 if Obama, in one of his regular bouts of hippie-punching, refuses an early waiver from RomneyObamaCare.)
While I am saddened to see our “most-Liberal” mantle pass to Vermont, I am overjoyed to see that there are at least some responsible adults in our country who are willing to do the right thing.
Huzzah! Let us pray that our own Commonwealth follows promptly so that we too can have better care, at lower prices, and for all residents.
And maybe now they’ll let me back into Texas.
“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” – George Washington
