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Resistance is not futile. Even though it may seem so at the moment. There were no mass protests to descend on the National Mall, legal challenges to Donald’s policies. Trump is likely doomed. Considering how much the judicial system has shifted to the right during his previous administration. With Trump’s unified control of the Republican Party which now includes unified control of Washington. Parliamentary oversight thus ended.
That alone creates a fortress of countervailing power. It is the only force that can meaningfully delay the incoming administration’s ultimate ambition: blue states, in particular. 15 State Governments with Democrats controlling the executive and legislative branches. They therefore have more latitude to launch proactive countermeasures.
In the past several months A small group of wonks and lawyers And a few farsighted Democratic governors have run in Anticipation During this time, they prepared measures to protect the state from the Trump administration’s most aggressive taxation measures. They have created plan to maintain abortion protections within blue state boundaries and to protect the environmental regulations enshrined on their books. They have laid out a legal strategy to at least delay Trump’s mass deportations.
But as Democrats develop these strategies Something unexpected happened. Some of these benefits are beginning to honor a vision that promises more than just protection against the worst. as they ponder the hidden power of state government. Outline of the federation’s new progressive vision – resistance and creativity. Courage and ideals – began to appear.
In another era This vision may seem unclear. Especially with liberals. Many often dream of centralizing and cultivating their intellectual capital in Washington. Considering the dire situation Democrats find themselves in right now. There is no real alternative, and liberals may soon discover that federalism was once a pastime for conservatives. There is not only hope in stubborn resistance. But it also includes the possibility of rehabilitation.
Inside the ranks of progressive thinkers and the foundations that fund them The most influential statement for this fledgling movement was an unreleased 170-page memo by Sarah Knight, a veteran of the American Constitutional Association on Law and Policy, and Arkadi Gerney, who runs the Michael Bloomberg Project, a gun control organization. national gun What makes their memo which they began researching more than a year ago What’s really interesting is that they want Democrats to wrest tactics from their political foe, Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
From the Governor’s Mansion in Austin Abbott has wielded outsized influence on America’s political climate. He won a culture war that reverberated far beyond his borders. His most famous and most poisonous tricks bring about Transportation More than 100,000 immigrants have recently arrived in New York, Chicago and other major cities. At a cost of more than $148 million, the newcomers—especially the stress they place on state and city services—have sown conflict within blue states as officials. dispute with each other about how to deal with the mess. Just as much, Abbott’s stunt helped orchestrate the disaster. impression Democrat rule culminated in chaos. This resulted in the victory of Vice President Kamala. Harris narrows in her party’s most loyal states and paved the way for Trump’s victory in the popular vote.
Federalism is a theory of self-government that is the foundation of a system that allows states to express their clear political preferences. But Abbott has practiced a form of hegemonic federalism. who attempts to bend the will of the rest of the nation to his own vision, his state. summons Medical records from Seattle Children’s Hospital To determine whether officials had provided gender verification procedures to children from Texas, Texas eventually withdrew the subpoena. But the process gives out-of-state doctors and hospitals reason to worry about potential legal costs from performing the procedure. and as banks begin to align with Texas environmental, social and governance investment standards. prohibit Barclays from participating as underwriter for state municipal bonds. Given his commitment to carbon neutrality, Abbott’s goal is to send a message to institutions that joining the wrong side of the culture war comes at a heavy cost.
I’ve heard some hastily drafted ideas for how Democrats could replicate Abbott’s coercive tactics. Blue states may recruit obstetricians from states that have serious restrictions on abortion. As a result, there is a shortage of medical care in the red states. women in those states Even people who aren’t particularly passionate about abortion. A clamor to ease the abortion ban may begin. Or punish the Republican politicians who installed them in the first place. The goal is to apply pressure on Republican governors by provoking a political backlash from within.
Another set of proposals involves deploying large public employee pension funds controlled by Democratic states to make strategic investments in red states, for example by pouring money into Texas’ wind energy industry. Blue states will do more than expand renewable energy options in the state. They will unleash powerful interest groups. This may help alter the political dynamics in the state.
These ideas are not well developed. And no idea is as clever as Abbott’s. (And the plan to recruit obstetricians strikes me as immoral Because it will inevitably suck health care away from the women who need it.) And again, on the first day of President Biden’s term, Abbott may have none of this. Unaware that he would spend millions transporting immigrants to major cities, what Abbott presented was a powerful model that could be exploited opportunistically. It is a tactic for engineering public opinion.
That was the aggressive and repulsive side of the new federation. This requires governors to think logically to call attention to Republican policy failures. But there is also a more idealistic vision.
A common theme of states’ rights is the image of Alabama Governor George Wallace blocking the doors of school buildings in opposition to integration. Or will it be John C. Calhoun? Nullification Theory– In the past, a quiet breed of liberal federation still running parallel During the Progressive Era, Robert La Follette, then governor of Wisconsin, has transformed his state into a geyser of reform. By passing anti-corruption and environmental conservation laws. His term, which is respectfully called “Wisconsin concept” inspired imitators in other states. and help set the tone for the new agreement. When you think of the Badger State Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis coined his aphorism about the state as “Laboratory of Democracy”
What the heirs of this tradition are proposing today is far more ambitious than experimental. That ambition starts with facts: States where Democrats control unified government contribute 43 percent of the nation’s GDP (perfectly red states under Republican control account for hundreds). Each 37) Economic power is the basis of political power. This is where California’s example suggests: The state’s stringent emissions standards for cars eventually became national benchmarks. This is a phenomenon that has been branded by political scientists. “California Effect”
The innovation the new federalists proposed was that blue states began to take advantage of their huge budgets—and their outsize influence—by acting in concert. When joining together as an alliance They can use the scale to negotiate for discounted products. Plans have been drafted to create a consortium of states that would purchase insulin and other prescription drugs. This may help reduce the high cost of living in their state (after. Dobbs decision California Governor Gavin Newsom spearheaded alliance who started stockpiling misoprostol for abortion) or they could join together to buy a lot of solar panels. Hoping to change the clean energy market
It’s not just about collaborating to buy a lot of products. Together they can create a common set of standards that form the basis for legislation and governance. By creating the same rules, such as corporate governance. or animal welfare or disclosing dark money donations to non-profit organizations They have the opportunity to set standards for the entire country. Because it is difficult for national organizations to comply with two things. Set of guidelines for raising chickens
Some of these arrangements may be challenged in court. This is because the Constitution specifies the scope of cooperation of various states. And it’s not hard to imagine some brave Democratic governor coming closer to invalidating federal law. As they try to protect their states from Trump’s tariffs. But there are many examples of states allowing this. Take part in an adventure in the Liberal Federation.
The biggest obstacle to this strategy may be the party implementing it. Pouring new ideas into state government has forced Democrats out of character. Their states and cities have too many terrifying examples. which is very poorly managed This is a fact reflected in the party’s declining victories in most metros. Creative and competent state governance is a political necessity for the party. It is an escape route from the lingering feeling that democratic governance has become dysfunctional. It is also an opportunity to set a new reform agenda. To create a number of compelling demonstration projects in the name of strong liberalism that deliver concretely to its citizens. It is ultimately the most effective form of resistance. It is to prove that Democrats are better at governing.
