So we lost the Congress, Presidency, and soon the Supreme court. Most will be gone to us for a long time, possibly decades. Trump, Pence, McConnell, and Powers want to gut the federal government with massive tax cuts for the rich. Go ahead, starve the federal beast. But let us turn to our blue redoubts on the coasts and see what we can do for ourselves as blue states both individually and in compact with other blue states. It’s time for us to count our strengths and build on our towering economic might and moral values at the state level. The red states will proudly own the hollowed out remains and resentments of the old economy. Good luck to them.
Bernie says we should focus on economic injustice, not identity. Fact is no one quite knows what makes an economy grow in either the short or long term. However, one fact stands out – the most successful state economies are those with voters who espouse tolerance, social justice, environmental values, and concern for the least of us. This is true both in the blue states and in the blue cities embedded in red states. As one time economic development director in Cambridge MA, it was clear to me that tolerance, an open mind, and innate fairness facilitate innovation at all levels and attract the diverse labor force necessary to put innovation to work. Economic growth and social justice are yin and yang.
We blues are the maker states, we have the highest Gross State Product, the highest personal income, the greatest investment in education, high tech, and renewable energy. Blue states control the financial assets of the country and the valves that direct the leading edge of investment to the high pay tech, service and export economy.
Red voters want to decimate federal taxes? Go ahead. The biggest tax cuts will flow to the blue states where we should respond by raising state income taxes to recapture this wealth windfall. The more we cut money flowing to the red taker states, the more we harvest blue state money to make investments in our own future.
So go ahead, decimate the federal government, we will simultaneously build on the already manifest success of our blue states and create interstate blue state compacts to help each other thrive. Congress and the supreme court want to hog tie the commerce clause tipping power from the federal to the state level. Bring it on! There is nothing better for us then to increase the power of the blue states to pursue our identity values and hammer home our economic advantages.
