Awhile ago I linked to a provocative comment from Chris Reed at the San Diego Union Tribune. He opined that Gov. Schwarzenegger's health insurance initiative to provide universal coverage to Californians was stillborn in light of ERISA's broad preemption. His skepticism is not without some basis. Chris has a relatively new post here in which he outlines greater explanation for his concerns and provides a thumbnail sketch of the evolution of applicable Supreme Court ERISA preemption analysis. I’m putting together some thoughts that present another perspective. Give me two or three days and I’ll have them in a little better shape.