Correction Connection: states' rights and health care

This blog's Correction Connection feature is designed to correct potentially damaging factual errors made by news organizations and others. And the Associated Press just muffed it big-time.

After Congress refused to pass health care reform with a public option, Vermont lawmakers have approved a reform package for that state that calls for designing a single payer system - which would be even better than a public option.

But the AP says this of states passing either a public option or single payer: "Either system would require federal approval."

Um, no. It would not. Ever hear of the Tenth Amendment? Vermont is using its own money - not federal money - to set up its health care program. If a state wants single payer, it can have single payer - federal diktats to the contrary be damned.

The right-wing brain trust thinks states can misuse the Tenth Amendment to deny their own citizenry the benefits of a federal program. But I think states ought to instead invoke the Tenth Amendment for what it's meant for - and that includes starting a single payer health care system.