June 26, 2009
Hello, Justice Brandeis?
The WSJ Ed Page has a home run lead editorial today. They point out that the key agenda items of the Obama Administration and the Democratic-led 111th Congress have been tried in the progressive states of New York, California and New Jersey.
They go item by item and show how these have failed in the States that have tried them.
So goes the real-life experience of progressive governance, with heavy tax burdens financing huge welfare states, and state capitals dominated by public-employee unions. Formerly rich states, they are now known for job losses, booming deficits and debt, wage stagnation, out-migration and laughing-stock legislatures. At least Americans have the ability to flee these ill-governed states for places that still welcome wealth creators. The debate in Washington now is whether to spread this antigrowth model across the entire country.
Justice Brandeis famously touted Federalism as providing "laboratories of democracy" in each of the states. I don't think he suspected that we would elevate the failed experiments.
UPDATE: Instapundit links to the same editorial and suggests they should emulate Texas but not Illinois. He missed teh Brandeis reference, maybe I should send him a link. He so enjoys it when I send him a link.