NEWS FLASH

California Group Seeks To Put Public Option On The Ballot | Amongst a sea of conservative efforts seeking to invalidate portions of the Affordable Care Act, California’s Consumer Watchdog has started up a campaign to strengthen it. The group is seeking to place a measure on the 2012 ballot “calling for a public option, a 20 percent rate rollback and tough oversight of premiums.” Insurance companies could invest “as much as $100 million to battle the ballot measure,” the watchdog group predicts. It plans to raise $6 million for a direct-mail campaign to voters.