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

[DeepModem Mom]

A Wave of Activism in States May Signal a Surge Nationwide
Ronald Brownstein


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. This isn't a new pattern. In earlier periods when conservatives controlled Washington, such as the 1890s, 1920s and 1980s, state-level activism flourished, notes Richard P. Nathan, director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York. And these state initiatives, Nathan argues, usually provided the foundation for the next surge in federal activism....

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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-outlook5dec05,0,1950409.column?coll=la-home-nation

[ixion]

1. geez.. say 'activism' again... and GOP limiting government?

:wtf:

Really, I don't see how that logic is allowed to stand. The GOP created the LARGEST DEPARTMENT IN US HISTORY. Also, this maladministration has BORROWED MORE MONEY THAN ALL PRESIDENTS COMBINED. I'm really not clear on how that falls under the category of 'conservative'.

I really don't 'get' civilization. :crazy:

[No Exit]

2. That's true

These greedy fucks have hugely expanded the government, and the rank-and-file repuke voters know it. They just gloss over this fact because they don't want to say "We were wrong about Bush."