In 2012 Maine, which has three parties, the two traditional ones and an independent party managed to make sure that only two candidates ran for office. They did so, in no small part, because of what happened in their Governor’s race in 2010.

The recently appointed Connecticut state health care exchange board contains three former high ranking private insurance executives.

This is just the latest example of how many of the new state based insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act are becoming dominated by individuals with close ties to the private insurance and hospital industries.

It ain’t John Ashcroft ordering the coverup of Lady Justice’s bare breast, but it’s close. The Tea Party-backed Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, has ordered his state’s Department of Labor to remove a mural depicting moments in labor history from its walls. LePage also demanded the state rename the Labor Department’s conference rooms, currently honoring labor icons like Frances Perkins and Cesar Chavez.

“Shared sacrifice,” or as I like to call it, “sacrifice.”