When you want to go forward, you put it in ‘D’
Something David Roberts (@drvolts) tweeted Monday is worth your attention:
As I say over & over, there’s no clearer way to understand the contrast between America’s two political parties than by looking at what they do when they control state gov’ts. Dems solve real problems; Republicans gang up to visit cruelty on vulnerable out groups.
Roberts cites the transportation bill the DFL just passed in Minnesota as an example of Democrats solving real problems:
Added to an already passed metro-area 0.25% sales tax for housing programs and projects, the seven counties of Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, Scott, Anoka and Carver counties will see a 1% sales tax increase.
Taken together, the transportation tax and fee increases would raise an additional $1.48 billion for roads, bridges, transit and other transportation needs in the next two-year budget period and $2.22 billion for the following two-year budget.
Memory of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse is still fresh in Minnesota.
Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, said the bill contains both the structure and funding — $2 million — for his plan to tackle crime and disruptions on light rail trains in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The interventions will begin with a social services emphasis to get help to people who are homeless or struggling with drug abuse or mental illness. But a law-enforcement element will follow to enforce a new code of conduct on trains. It will start as soon as the bill is signed.
The transportation bill also contains $195 million to match federal money to build passenger rail between the Twin Cities and Duluth, called the Northern Lights Express.
Contrast that with Republican assaults on women’s rights and education, and with their unsettling obsession with drag queens and gender nonconformity as issues they deem more urgent in states like Florida, Texas, and Nebraska.
Facing off against GOP supermajorities in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) on Monday declared a performative “state of emergency” to draw attention to a Republican effort to divert more public education funds to private schools:
“It’s clear that the Republican legislature is aiming to choke the life out of public education,” Cooper said in a recorded speech released Monday. He urged voters to “take immediate action and tell them to stop the damage that will set back our schools for a generation.”
In his video address, Cooper said he’s “declaring this a state of emergency” for public education but pointed out it was not an official order. He called on residents to encourage their legislators to reject a spate of GOP-backed education bills in the final weeks of the chief work period for this year’s legislative session.
I’ve had plenty to say about the conservative attacks on public schools. Just like they demand “integrity” to repair the public confidence in elections they’ve worked decades to erode, they’ve done the same with public schools. Their solution is demolition.
Jeanne Milliken Bonds of the UNC Kenan Flagler Business School reminds Twitter how voucher schools underperform and which newly minted N.C. Republican supports them.
Tony Gattis (@TexDem_Dkos) reminded me that Tricia Cotham was once president of a failed charter school company, part of an experimental state program ended in 2021.
President Barack Obama deployed this image to highlight the difference between parties that Roberts spotlights:
These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class. They drove our economy into a ditch. And we got in there and put on our boots and we pushed and we shoved. And we were sweating and these guys were standing, watching us and sipping on a Slurpee. (Laughter.) And they were pointing at us saying, how come you’re not pushing harder, how come you’re not pushing faster? And then when we finally got the car up — and it’s got a few dings and a few dents, it’s got some mud on it, we’re going to have to do some work on it — they point to everybody and say, look what these guys did to your car. (Laughter.) After we got it out of the ditch! And then they got the nerve to ask for the keys back! (Laughter and applause.) I don’t want to give them the keys back. They don’t know how to drive. (Applause.)
I mean, I want everything to think about it here. When you want to go forward in your car, what do you do?
AUDIENCE: D!
THE PRESIDENT: You put it in D. They’re going to pop it in reverse. They’d have those special interests riding shotgun, then they’d hit the gas and we’d be right back in the ditch. (Laughter.)