My daughter and two-year old grandson Ari used to go to Seattle regularly to visit the zoo. The current economy has changed that. Now, their destination is the library – for toddler storytimes, children’s books, or free DVDs.

While I don’t support government-run plans, I do think there are solutions for decreasing costs and increasing access.

While Washington once again debates reforming our health care reform system, the states have marched on. Washington-based proposals, like those currently before Congress, are too expensive and ignore the fact that most Americans don’t want and are concerned about a big-government takeover of the U.S. health care system.

As a member of a hospital geriatric emergency team, I’m on the front lines of a major health care issue that need immediate attention.

People have a lot of questions about the proposed federal health care reforms. But the most important question we should ask — perhaps the only one — is will “ObamaCare” work?

Responding to the concern that setting up a government-run public option insurance plan would inject politics into American health care, public option backers are saying, “Right. And that’s a good thing.”

An unfortunate pair  

President Obama wants Congress to rush health reform legislation, implying that the “crisis” means there is no time to analyze the details.

I’m often asked how other states compare to Washington on transportation policy. This is a reasonable question, because across our state, traffic congestion is growing worse and is expected to double over the next twenty years. Congestion chokes the economy, robs valuable time from our families and lowers our overall quality of life.

When discussing global warming, one phrase recurs: “scientific consensus.” Environmental activists often cite “science” when arguing for far-reaching and costly responses to global warming. Ironically, however, those activists ignore the findings of that same science. The potential impacts they cite are based not on science but on speculation which contradicts the actual science.