LAT: A Wave of Activism in States May Signal a Surge Nationwide

[Rose Siding]

It's not a news bulletin that this has been a decade of conservative dominance in Washington. Since 2001, the top domestic priority for President Bush and the Republican Congress has been cutting taxes. With a few exceptions (led by the Medicare prescription drug benefit approved during Bush's first term), the GOP majority has focused on limiting, not expanding, the federal government's size and scope.

But a counter-cyclical trend toward government activism is thriving in the states governed by Democrats and moderate Republicans......


Today, conservative ideas focused on limiting government and cutting taxes are as powerful in most Republican-leaning states as they are in Washington. But in Democratic-leaning and swing states, experiments are developing that may headline the domestic agenda for the next president (either a Democrat or centrist Republican) committed to a more activist federal government.

Ideas sprouting in these states include a higher minimum wage (17 states exceed the national standard of $5.15 an hour), support for stem cell research that Bush has limited at the national level, universal preschool and guaranteeing all children access to healthcare.

Two of the most intriguing, and widespread, priorities in the activist states are the promotion of energy independence and the combating of global warming. Here the contrast with Washington is especially stark.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-outlook5dec05,1,4078530.column?coll=la-headlines-nation

[PunkPop]

1. First of all

With a few exceptions (led by the Medicare prescription drug benefit approved during Bush's first term), the GOP majority has focused on limiting, not expanding, the federal government's size and scope.

Bush and his puke henchmen have increased non-defense government spending between 10-20%. They have created a corporate welfare state. The federal government was smaller under Clinton.

That said, this column does highlight an important movement in this country to counter the destruction conservatives have wrought on the idea of a government that benefits the people it supposedly represents.

However, I wouldn't look to "centrist" Republicans or DLCers like Bill Richardson for any kind of real change.

[Rose Siding]

2. Very true: "With a few exceptions..." is a silly understatement

Maybe he's just selling papers, but Brownstein's powerful closer fuels hope: "When the countryside rumbles, sooner or later the capital always shakes."