Earlier this month, the Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press ran an editorial praising the implementation of the Affordable Care Act — aka "Obamacare" — and what we saw as being the positive local impacts of the federal law.
Given that a large number of people in our communities are either uninsured or underinsured, the increased health of such individuals, we argued, would be good for us all. That is, good for us here, in our blocks and streets and neighborhoods, not just a theoretical "good" as determined by faceless suits in Washington, D.C.
Given that the rhetoric on both sides of this issue has risen to high camp, I was far from shocked that some people were not pleased with this position. Several even wrote letters — ones we published — to say they would cancel their subscriptions because of our stance. Another opaquely warned about a "fifth column," bent on destroying the American republic.