A SCHIP-like referendum in Oregon should give those advocating more government in health care some pause:
Oregon reproduced the current Schip fracas in D.C. on the state level — and the referendum took a major shellacking, with voters siding three to two against . . .. . . We’re surprised the Governor thinks voters in his left-leaning state are so easily gulled — especially in a contest between “healthy kids” and cigarettes. More persuasive is the notion that voters didn’t want to pass a state tax increase to finance a health-care expansion that Congress might soon pass, along with buckets of federal dollars. But most likely, voters understood that a tax increase on cigarettes is still a tax increase, and a highly regressive one at that. Only about 20% of Oregonians smoke, and most of those are lower income.
