Blue Civil War: The Battle for California

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

3/6/13

 

Via Meadia readers know that the most important political battle in America today isn’t the much-ballyhooed battle for the soul of the GOP. It is the blue civil war, pitting key elements of the Democratic coalition against one another as the old social model fails and the growth curve of rising blue model costs runs up against fiscal limits. Blue model policies, whatever their merits, don’t generate the revenue that can support blue model institutions and methods, and when those shortfalls appear, the coalition divides. It’s happened in Wisconsin, it’s happened in Indiana; it’s happened in Michigan and it is happening in California.

 

The Battle of San Diego is now in full swing. Last summer, voters there approved Prop. B, a ballot measure to reform a pension system whose cost had quintupled in 12 years, eating up revenue for other activities. As politicians struggled to pay off the pension obligations, libraries closed their doors and roads deteriorated. Voters had enough. No longer would they accept service cuts (or tax hikes) to pay to keep unionized public employees in the lifestyle to which they had grown accustomed.

 

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Republicans right now are largely irrelevant to the blue civil war. The consumers of government services—folks who send their kids to public schools, depend on mass transit, can’t survive in old age without Medicare and Medicaid—want government to work better and more cheaply, but they don’t want it to do less. This is why the Battle of San Diego and similar fights taking place across California are unlikely to redraw partisan lines anytime soon.

 

But there’s a serious political opportunity in America for a movement that cares deeply about ensuring that the people who need public services (whether provided directly by the state as in public schools or indirectly through vouchers and charter schools) receive good value for their money. A movement that fights to reform government and make it work, to strip away unnecessary frills and patronage posts, to disempower bureaucracies and return control to citizens and to create a regulatory and legal framework that can bring start ups and jobs into inner cities could change the balance of power in American politics.

 

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[Valin]

Blue Civil War in Obama’s Home State

3/8/13

 

Illinois’ troubles are about to get much worse. On Wednesday, Governor Pat Quinn unveiled what some are calling the state’s “worst-ever budget” and blasted legislators for doing nothing about the state’s $96 billion unfunded pension liability. Another two years of stasis and President Obama’s home state will officially be “spending more on public pensions than on education”, according to Governor Quinn. The FT has more of the gory details:

 

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The consequences go far beyond angry pensioners and incensed unions. Education spending has already been cut by hundreds of millions of dollars. Ambulance providers and hospitals have cut back on employees and equipment. The poor are facing high taxes. The state has the worst credit rating in the country. Borrowing costs are rising. And taxpayers are on the hook for billions of dollars in unpaid bills.

 

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In many ways, Illinois has become Ground Zero of blue model decline. With a situation so dire in the President’s home state, one would expect the White House to be a little more vocal in its concern.