Survey after survey shows that Wisconsin has one of the nation’s highest rates of people covered by health insurance.

Paying for that care is another matter and the group Families USA says it’s a big problem these days. The group says the average health premium in Wisconsin rose by 66 percent over the last six years while average pay only went up 16 percent.

That means the well to do are sacrificing other things to pay for coverage, while the poor rely more and more on public programs like Badger Care.

Higher drug costs and hospital stays are to blame.

Employers have paid 69 percent more since 2000 on premiums for their workers while their employees are paying 75 percent more.

State Democrats from the governor on down won their jobs last month by favoring health care reform. But Ron Pollack of Families USA says the problem is too big for one state or one company to solve.

He says it will be up to Congress and they’ll have a perfect opportunity when they modify the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.

Pollack says the government must be allowed to negotiate with drug companies for their lowest and best prices.

That’s something President Bush refused to do a couple years ago.

The year is rapidly coming to a close, so the nomination period is almost over, but Carrie Lynch draws our attention to a doozy.

The doozy comes from the website of a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Annette Ziegler. On her events page, Ziegler has some pictures, if you roll over particular counties on the big map. For example, if you roll over Florence County, you get a cute picture of Judge Ziegler standing in front of the rustic Florence County Courthouse sign. Mouse over Washington county, and you get this picture of her in front of the slightly less rustic Washington County Courthouse.

All very nice, right? Except keep going; hit Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Ozaukee counties. Notice anything . . . unusual about these?

Now, to get to any of the Milwaukee, Waukesha, or Ozaukee County courthouses from her homebase in Washington County, it might have taken Judge Ziegler no more than 45 minutes or so in the car. She probably could have hit all three in an afternoon. But, no. We get bad photoshop--she couldn't even match the font and color of the sign, let alone the angle of the words. Someone should probably get fired for this. Preferably the candidate.

For the record, I'm leaning toward Linda Clifford.

A new report by the Pentagon warns that Iraq is in danger of becoming a failed state as violence reaches an all-time high. The report says that in the period from August to November the average number of weekly attacks increased by over one quarter compared to the months before. The Pentagon says the situation is most volatile in Baghdad and the western Anbar province and claims that the Iraqi government is incapable of resolving the conflict. The report was released shortly after Robert Gates was sworn in as the new US secretary of defence. At his ceremony on Monday, Gates warned that failure in Iraq would come back to haunt Americans for decades to come.

Gov. Jim Doyle said today that he believes the fight over legalizing same-sex civil unions in Wisconsin is not finished.

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"I do not believe people in Wisconsin would have voted 'no' on civil unions," Doyle said.

The governor said he believes a new constitutional amendment proposed by state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, to ban discrimination could be a way to blunt the effects of the marriage ban.

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[Judith] Brant [, project coordinator for the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, aka a big tool,] said that since Kentucky passed its constitutional ban on gay marriage, which is identical to Wisconsin's, the University of Louisville approved offering domestic partner benefits to unmarried and same-sex couples.

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Doyle acknowledged that it would likely take time to come up with a proposal for civil unions that voters would accept.

New graduates who will have loans to repay might have an easier time when Democrats take control of congress next month.

Democratic leaders are promising lower payments on new college loans by cutting the interest rate in half.

The average Wisconsin student graduating in 2005 had more than $17,000 of debt.