Opinion: In today’s pages: Healthcare, foreclosures and Cronkite

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Rehabilitating Healthcare series continues on the editorial page; this week’s installment focuses on rationing. The current system rations care based on income, which leaves the poorer folks out to dry while properly insured Americans fare well. The Times’ editorial notes that most people have no qualms with the system, though, because it prevents the government from determining what care you get. Critics of Obama’s healthcare proposal are hostile to such government rationing. Here is the board’s response:

Although we’d prefer a government-run insurance option that has to negotiate with doctors and hospitals the same way private insurers do, we don’t believe that one with the power to set prices will necessarily out-compete the likes of Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross. That’s because private insurers will still be able to innovate with providers to deliver better care, just as FedEx and United Parcel Service have done to compete successfully with the U.S. Postal Service.

Elsewhere on the page, the editorial board expresses disappointment at the Los Angeles Unified School District (surprise, surprise) because of its decision to hold off on implementing an idea proposed by school board Vice President Yolie Flores Aguilar that would allow various groups to submit competing proposals on how 50 new schools across the district would be run. Some labor unions object to Flores’ proposal on the grounds that it would limit union jobs in these new schools. While many details still need to be worked out before the program goes through, the editorial says, the school board should actually be the agent of educational change it says it is.

On the Op-Ed page, ccontributing editor Sara Catania offers an up close and personal look at home foreclosures in Los Angeles. Catania talks to five people who have sought legal help after hitting rock bottom in recent days.

Also in Op-Ed land, NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr reflects on legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite and what made him as successful as he was in turning any story into national news. His conclusion? Everyone trusted Uncle Walter:

The simple answer, but maybe too simple, is that Cronkite inspired trust. In a couple of polls he was designated the most trusted man in America. His baritone voice with its Midwest cadence, the impression he gave of being unawed by all the big shots he had to deal with, his never losing touch with his audience -- all these factors placed him in a unique role. And he felt its weight. Asked to run for public office, Cronkite reportedly said he could not step down from his anchor post.