Last week our newsletter covered the healthcare situation in Albany, GA, where Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital currently holds a monopoly on obstetrical care. Update:

As defenders of the free market, AFP guards against big government to ensure there is healthy competition and that citizens have the power of choice — to choose where to buy clothes and gasoline, where to live, where to send our children to school and where to go to have our babies.

This is a difficult time for taxpayers considering the great instability in the markets. State and local tax burdens are at an all time high--governments are capturing a larger share of personal income than at any other time in the nation's history. This is due to unconstrained growth in state and local spending. Taxpayers are asking the obvious: if we must tighten our belts, why can't state and local governments learn to live with a leaner budget?

Texas should consider takind a business approach to state and local government health care benefits. First, address the problem of unfunded liabilities which simply shift the burden of payment to future generations. Second, stop the bleeding--reduce the cost to government of pension and health care plans. Introduce a cap on costs via a defined contribution plan. This can end the accumulation of unfunded liability, with obvious benefits to taxpayers who must ultimately foot the bill.