Forget Big vs. Small Government. For the Rightwing, It's Only About Power
Conservatives need to figure out where they stand on local power. Their views present a paradox, suggested The New York Times recently.
Causing the confusion are so-called pre-emption laws passed by states to stop local governments from enacting their own policies. Eight states have passed laws scuttling local sick days rules. More have sought to pre-empt local regulations on things like local contracting, big box retailing and non-violent drugs. Most doggedly, the well-endowed National Restaurant Association has worked to block cities from raising restaurant workers' wages.
The business lobby's cabal, the American Legislative Exchange Council has made passing pre-emption laws a priority, and Republican dominated state legislators have gone all out even as they jaw on about conservative values of individual liberty, don't tread on me and the evils of big government.
Hence the quandary. Curious: are conservatives for local control or against it?
The answer's a lot more simple. Big business sees the writing on the wall. Even citizens in red states like Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota voted overwhelmingly for raising minimum wages last time around. Philadelphia recently became the 20th place in the states to enact a law guaranteeing workers paid sick days. In the same month, after rallies and protests and thousands of emails from state residents, New York's Governor Cuomo announced a raise for his states 400,000 tipped workers. Cuomo knows a popular move when he sees one.
Especially given the deadlock in DC, voters want local government to take power back from far-off legislators and corporations. So it's no wonder that groups like the NRA and ALEC have turned cold on local power and big on big govt preemption.
Paradoxical? Not really. When it comes to government, we've bought a myth that there are high moral principles at stake: big or small, federal or local?
As the unseemly hypocrisy over pre-emption laws reveals, the fight's really over power. And politicians, especially conservative ones, will squirm through no end of contradictions to keep their hands on it.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Conservatives need to figure out where they stand on local power. Their views present a paradox, suggested The New York Times recently.
Causing the confusion are so-called pre-emption laws passed by states to stop local governments from enacting their own policies. Eight states have passed laws scuttling local sick days rules. More have sought to pre-empt local regulations on things like local contracting, big box retailing and non-violent drugs. Most doggedly, the well-endowed National Restaurant Association has worked to block cities from raising restaurant workers' wages.
The business lobby's cabal, the American Legislative Exchange Council has made passing pre-emption laws a priority, and Republican dominated state legislators have gone all out even as they jaw on about conservative values of individual liberty, don't tread on me and the evils of big government.
Hence the quandary. Curious: are conservatives for local control or against it?
The answer's a lot more simple. Big business sees the writing on the wall. Even citizens in red states like Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota voted overwhelmingly for raising minimum wages last time around. Philadelphia recently became the 20th place in the states to enact a law guaranteeing workers paid sick days. In the same month, after rallies and protests and thousands of emails from state residents, New York's Governor Cuomo announced a raise for his states 400,000 tipped workers. Cuomo knows a popular move when he sees one.
Especially given the deadlock in DC, voters want local government to take power back from far-off legislators and corporations. So it's no wonder that groups like the NRA and ALEC have turned cold on local power and big on big govt preemption.
Paradoxical? Not really. When it comes to government, we've bought a myth that there are high moral principles at stake: big or small, federal or local?
As the unseemly hypocrisy over pre-emption laws reveals, the fight's really over power. And politicians, especially conservative ones, will squirm through no end of contradictions to keep their hands on it.
Conservatives need to figure out where they stand on local power. Their views present a paradox, suggested The New York Times recently.
Causing the confusion are so-called pre-emption laws passed by states to stop local governments from enacting their own policies. Eight states have passed laws scuttling local sick days rules. More have sought to pre-empt local regulations on things like local contracting, big box retailing and non-violent drugs. Most doggedly, the well-endowed National Restaurant Association has worked to block cities from raising restaurant workers' wages.
The business lobby's cabal, the American Legislative Exchange Council has made passing pre-emption laws a priority, and Republican dominated state legislators have gone all out even as they jaw on about conservative values of individual liberty, don't tread on me and the evils of big government.
Hence the quandary. Curious: are conservatives for local control or against it?
The answer's a lot more simple. Big business sees the writing on the wall. Even citizens in red states like Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota voted overwhelmingly for raising minimum wages last time around. Philadelphia recently became the 20th place in the states to enact a law guaranteeing workers paid sick days. In the same month, after rallies and protests and thousands of emails from state residents, New York's Governor Cuomo announced a raise for his states 400,000 tipped workers. Cuomo knows a popular move when he sees one.
Especially given the deadlock in DC, voters want local government to take power back from far-off legislators and corporations. So it's no wonder that groups like the NRA and ALEC have turned cold on local power and big on big govt preemption.
Paradoxical? Not really. When it comes to government, we've bought a myth that there are high moral principles at stake: big or small, federal or local?
As the unseemly hypocrisy over pre-emption laws reveals, the fight's really over power. And politicians, especially conservative ones, will squirm through no end of contradictions to keep their hands on it.