Mg, as it stands now many people do consider their health benifit/package before the offered salary & worst than that their are many people who work for their health package alone & don't give a shit about the money. They "work for coverage", just like the homeless character of the coner with a sign "work for food". They can't afford to cover their kids or spouses that have health issues, so they work to get the coverage. It's not an Anerican dream, it's an American tragedy. And it's getting worst. I'm covered by my wife's employee health plan along with my kids but it doesn't cover much so out of my SS disability I deduct the cost to medicare's best plan I can get & that still doesn't cover me enough. It's more the shame that MaCain purpose a health plan that will be taxed & the $5000 gift is a sham & a slap in our faces. The only way is to nationalize the health insurance industry & Obama is as close as we've come to anything that would resemble relief & turn around the "work for health care" tragedy. I can see why you think you're lucky with a state job but I think you've been robbed along with the rest of US.
It's the same with education, there is no difference between the way they're both set up!

Janie, cheer up, you weren't hearing those things because you weren't listening to the slow sounding ground swell, I believe that public service will become 'noble' again, 'not for profits' will survive & again will be seen as a "rightous" way to make a living & it'll be again to help the living live. For the past 8 yrs (really since Ronnie R) you & others have been beaten badly. The government has asked charity & faith based orgs to do the jobs that they neglected to do & fund. I think that the country is experiencing a movement towards seeing that the disenfranchised are cared for & looked after because it's now so appearant that many of the working class are only a step away themselves from being disenfranchised & so many of those that they know/knew personnally have fallen by the wayside. At least I hope it's turning in this direction. We'll see after the election which because of the dire straits we're now in they're will be a landslide favoring the democrates & if that happens they are far more willing to listen to the citizens that elected them. It will be up to the populous to push a more populist form of government & keep the pressure up until we get government to do the right thing by it's people. I believe (I didn't before) that with Obama at the head of a dem Senate & Congress along with a left leaning Supreme Court that we will be able to achieve a counrty that for the 1st time in eons one that it's people can truly be proud of. It's a long shot & a long road but the only other option from here is we can all take it one step further & we can all just as easily go to hell, it's not a far leap from where we are now, either that or revolt. Start singing "Blue Skies", it'll all look brighter. I haven't been this optimistic about government since being arrested for change back in the 60's, I hope my medications are all properly ajusted.

Barry