In an end of the year analysis of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, the Associated Press states that one of the political “misses” of Snyder’s first year was he “failed to get the GOP-led House to approve spending federal dollars to develop a state health exchange where individuals and small businesses could shop for health insurance.”

Although the AP considers it a failure for the Snyder Administration, many limited-government proponents believe that it is a good thing the exchange was not created.

Health care exchanges are health care plans regulated by a state where residents can purchase health insurance.

Jack McHugh, legislative analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the federal government can create the health care exchanges if states fail to do so. The exchanges are the instruments for which Obamacare’s subsidies will be distributed, McHugh said.

“Governors and state legislators have a duty to push back against his infringement of Federalism,” McHugh said. “States have a duty to push back when the Feds overreach, it is more than a political statement. It is a constitutional statement. They are saying, ‘Feds – you went too far. And we aren’t going to roll over and just take it.’ ”

Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute laid out why states should not implement health care exchanges in Sept. 15 testimony to the Missouri State Senate.

The state would have enormous responsibilities in being a watchdog over the health insurance carriers and running a “reinsurance program” and a “risk-adjustment” program, Cannon said. “The states don’t have the time to take on all the responsibilities involved in creating the exchange."

Cannon argues that states don’t have the money to spend on new bureaucracies.

“Every dollar that Missouri spends on an exchange is a dollar it cannot spend on roads, education, or police — or more important, a missed opportunity to spur economic recovery by reducing the tax burden,” Cannon told the committee.

He also said it made little sense to create a new government bureaucracy for a law that could soon be repealed. The United States Supreme Court has stated it will rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare.

Cannon believes that state officials who set up health care exchanges are setting themselves up to take the blame when Obamacare fails.

East Grand Rapids Public Schools is considering a plan that would require all third through 12^th graders to use wireless devices in class by the fall of 2012, according to a school official.

But the district is considering holding parents responsible for acquiring the technological devices, which is raising some eyebrows.

Jeanne Glowicki, the East Grand Rapids Public School assistant superintendent of instruction, said parents would be given options of how to get the wireless devices.

“Parents will be given a menu of options which include purchase, lease, technology tools used already in their home, use school technology tools, and scholarship,” Glowicki wrote in an e-mail.

Glowicki said the school board hasn’t made a final decision yet.

Martin Ackley, spokesman for the Department of Education, said the program is legal.

“Whether it is equitable or not is another question,” Ackley said in an e-mail. “The district is implementing a BYOD (bring your own device) program.  The inequity issue is summed up quite well by Gary Stager, a leader in educational technology use.  ‘The only way to guarantee equitable educational experiences is for each student to have access to the same materials and learning opportunities. BYOD leaves this to chance with more affluent students continuing to have an unfair advantage over their classmates. This is particularly problematic in a society with growing economic disparity.’ While the district is meeting the guidelines of the law, BYOD may not be the most equitable manner in implementing a 1:1 environment in a public school.”

Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said he’d be concerned if the technology was needed for classes that were mandatory and not electives.

“The unanswered question here is what if a student chooses not to purchase, lease, apply for a scholarship or use their own personal devices,” Van Beek said in an e-mail.  “What happens then? Will they be able to fully participate in the school’s programs?”