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Ballot Proposition 2, on expanding Medicaid, is complicated, but its overall effect seems clear: It will increase government involvement in health care.

The history of the past century has been for the public to see a problem (from a very great distance) and to assume that government can fix “it.” This process has given us the trillion-dollar big government about which most people are skeptical.

So, here’s a way to size up your vote on this measure. If you a) want ever-bigger government, and b) believe that government is a rational, responsible and effective problem-solving agency, then you could vote “yes” on Proposition 2.

The rest of us might want to rethink where we are headed.

JIM PAYNE

Sandpoint