The opening line in the Boston Globe story says it all: "The state's top two legislative leaders, faced with the prospect of soaring costs for the healthcare initiative, are considering raising the cigarette tax as one of several funding and cost-cutting strategies."

There are still people out there (like Paul Krugman) who continue to say that the Massachusetts health plan is working. As has been pointed out many times in this blog, the increasing costs of the program are much higher than promised at its enactment. But why let facts get in the way of the notion that government health care programs are an affordable way to help the uninsured?