In a time of heightened political rhetoric, it is always good to see real solutions producing real results to serious issues.

Noting that during her three years as Governor, abortions in Kansas declined 11 percent, funds for adoption and programs that counsel women on a variety of options are increasing, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill invading the privacy of women obtaining late-term abortions. "Privacy is a fundamental concern to all Kansans," Sebelius said.

Sebelius vetoed the bill against the backdrop of Attorney General Phil Kline's ongoing law suit seeking to obtain private medical records for women obtaining services at two clinics.

Both efforts typify what is happening across the country as progressives like Governor Sebelius can point to real success in reducing abortion thanks to pragmatic solutions while the opposition tries to score debating points by promoting bills that do nothing to reduce abortion and promote the erosion of civl liberties.

More practical solutions are being promoted to prevent HIV in African American communities in Illinois where Governor Blagojevich signed a new law establishing $3 million in education and prevention monies targeted toward this highly affected community.

"It flips the script on how we deal with the disease in our community, from treatment and care, to prevention that inludes treatment and care," said Lloyd Kelly of Let's Talk, Let's Test Foundation.

The practicality of a large scale HIV vaccine trial in Thailand is openly questioned by many researchers, but because no one has successfully cleared the virus from their system, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci says it is, "why more research is being directed at trying to stop the infection from happening in the first place."

Increasingly it appears that the potential for real solutions exists following these more pragmatic approaches on a range of problems, and not allowing the more emotional and ideological based approaches to stand in the way of progress.