Word: reform
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...TIME: I wanted to start out somewhat philosophically: Did you feel that the institution of government was no longer the best way to bring change about? Sarah Palin: There certainly needs to be reform of government on a national level. On a state level, we've been successful in reforming our level. This being my third year, heading into my final year in office, though, knowing that my agenda to reform state government, to rein in the rate of government growth that our state had been on - it was a trajectory that was going to put our state in dire...
...that because you feel you don't have a mandate anymore? It's not that. It's that our administration is so stymied and paralyzed because of a political game that has been chosen to be played by critics who have discovered loopholes in the ethics reform that I championed that allows them to continually, continually bombard the state with frivolous ethics-violation charges, with lawsuits, with these fishing expeditions. We win the lawsuits, we win the ethics charges, we win all that - but it comes at such great cost. The distraction, the waste of time and money, the public...
...prospect of sweeping health reform, however, has reopened the issue. While current versions of the legislation do not address the abortion issue at all, late last month, 19 antiabortion Democrats in the House sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warning that they "cannot support any health-care-reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health-insurance plan." Among those who signed the letter were two members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (one of the three panels with principal jurisdiction in the health-reform effort): Bart Stupak of Michigan...
...have to put their money where their mouth is. They talk endlessly about delivering health care more efficiently and providing better preventive care - two essential factors for the reduction of overall health-care costs - but providers have been discussing the same factors as long as the idea of health reform has existed. Meanwhile, health-care costs, fueled by the "fee for service" model, are growing some 10% annually. In the end, the only way to get change may be to get real about the fact that, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, health care and money are inseparable...
...Bipartisanship At the start of her term in 2006, Palin's platform looked much more Democratic than Republican. She picked up on Dem calls for ethics reform and backed Democratic stands against oil- and gas-company interests. She made limited mention of abortion and other social-conservative issues. She would also visit the legislative offices, sometimes bringing fresh baked cookies and bagels. "I'm sure she visited some Republicans, but mostly the people she visited were Democrats," says Alaska representative Harry Crawford, an Anchorage Democrat who has known Palin for more than a decade. "With Sarah, we were able...