green mountain dreaming.

My eight years in Vermont hold a special place in my heart. It was in the Green Mountain State that I attended the finest liberal arts college in the land, met my wonderful bride, and received my first fulltime paycheck. All while driving Subarus, decking myself in fleece vests and wool socks, and learning the magic of fly fishing.

Vermont also pushed me further and further to the left, in support of then-Governor Dean's relentless push for universal health care and same sex unions. So imagine my delight when I found the following article on Yahoo! News (shameless plug) today: "Vermont signs ambitious health insurance law."

The gist is this: Following the lead of Massachusetts, Vermont is pushing to extend health care insurance to 96% of state residents by the end of the decade.

This is populist governing at its finest. It is the kind of aggressive move that Democrats should embrace going into the midterm elections this fall, the kind of policy that will help us sweep the right-wingers out of the Capitol building and onto the streets. Kudos to Governor Douglas and the Vermont legislature for taking a stand. And may the rest of the states in our fine nation follow the lead of our friends in New England.