Small Vote for Universal Care Is Seen as Carrying a Lot of Weight The state's primary health insurer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars � more than some Congressional candidates here spend � to try to defeat the referendum, even though it was purely advisory. Opponents of the measure broadcast a battery of television commercials contending that government-run health care would mean long waits, rationed medical care, prohibitively high taxes and bureaucratic nightmares. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/16/national/16MAIN.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all

Ideology As Usual George W. Bush has focused effectively on the need for an international alliance against terrorism. But he has not yet understood what a wartime president has to do at home: Put aside ideological politics so he can be president of all the people. With his evident approval, the ideologues in his administration are riding their conservative hobbyhorses as if the country did not have a higher purpose now. They, and the president, seem oblivious to the way those actions threaten national unity. A striking example is the decision by Attorney General John Ashcroft this week to try to overrule the voters of Oregon and undo that state's assisted-suicide law. He said he would move to revoke the drug prescription license of any Oregon doctor who used drugs to help someone who wanted to die. In another strange example of his priorities, Mr. Ashcroft last month sent federal agents to raid a Los Angeles center that supplied marijuana to desperately ill people under a state law allowing medical use. Does a wartime Justice Department really have nothing better to do than deprive cancer and AIDS patients of relief from their pain? Two weeks ago the British government decided to stop arresting marijuana users, adopting the policy now followed by most European governments. The U.S. law against users has not changed, but Mr. Ashcroft has discretion to use Justice Department resources where they are most urgently needed � especially in a war situation. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/10/opinion/10LEWI.html?todaysheadlines