In an Ann Arbor News letter to the editor this past week, an Ann Arborite stated the following hope:

We need solution to health care woes

So, same-sex partners can no longer enjoy the benefits of their partner's employer health plans. Truly sad. However, I see the situation on another level. What of the growing numbers of the self-employed, the unemployed and the underemployed who are unable to enjoy the largess of a deep-pocketed employer? While many same-sex partners have been enjoying employer-provided health care, others have been left out in the cold, some for years. Now that same-sex couples have joined these ranks, perhaps it will become apparent to all of us that we as a society need a better solution to health care, one that does not depend upon how and where one is employed. (Emphasis added.)

This really demonstrates to me the skew one finds in a town like Ann Arbor - the idea that Proposal 2's striking down of the benefits given same-sex partners of University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Public Schools employees will provide the tipping point for America to wake up and provide health care to all seems pretty hopeful to me. As far as I can tell, the court case hasn't even really provided a tipping point in the state for the idea that Prop 2 was a bad idea, let alone that our health care system is broken. But, hey, at least the economic impacts of (a) discriminatory ballot proposals and (b) lack of health care are getting coverage.