Deb Eddy on the Republican "Suburban Agenda": Interference in Local ControlThis article is by Deb Eddy, former Mayor of Kirkland and former Director of the Suburban Cities Association. Ms. Eddy is running for State Representative in the 48th Legislative District.
A few weeks ago, the "Suburban Agenda" that some Congressional Republicans are putting together got some press. I was curious, did a quick search and found an article in Ripon by John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates that lays out the entire agenda. He notes that Republican Representative Mark Kirk of Illinois is the leader of "just over" 20 Republicans in the House who are working on this agenda. McLaughlin admits that the numbers for the upcoming election are pretty depressing for Republicans, based primarily on suburban voters' dissatisfaction with the war. Citing a poll of suburban voters that was conducted by his own company (check this out; very interesting set of questions), he writes: "But beyond these numbers, and beyond this one issue, the survey reveals one other key thing - mainly, that the GOP can win the suburban vote if it puts forward a plan that makes a difference in people's daily lives."
Thereafter, McLaughlin lays out the agenda that will win those suburban votes. Many struck me as pandering to our collective insecurities and fears, attempting to change the subject away from things like the ballooning federal deficit, an unpopular war, our balance of trade problems and the truth about our children's economic future. It also shows a disturbing and continuing trend toward federal preemption of local government. The so-called Suburban Agenda includes calls for (comments in parentheses are mine):
Now, I know that local government, cities, counties, states and school boards, can sometimes be a little slow to tackle some of these things. But local government is just that ... local ... and involves your neighbors and co-workers in setting local policy on these issues. The idea that we'll somehow be safer and these items will be better addressed by a Congress that can't even run its own immigration program or a viable nationwide emergency management program is almost funny.
There are more items in McLaughlin's article (this isn't an exhaustive review), including some that make some good sense, at least at first glance. But these guys have had control of Congress for six years and haven't done any of these things. I am, therefore, a bit skeptical that any of these would find their way into law in 2007.
Congressman Reichert recently introduced a bill to create a "Gang Most Wanted List" Why didn't he take this opportunity to introduce a bill to make health insurance plans portable from one job to another -- or any of the other good ideas in McLaughlin's article? I can make a guess: "Gangs" play into fears for our safety (again, a prominent theme in the Suburban Agenda) and his bill is a feel-good.
Admittedly, I'm running for the state legislature and not for Congress, so spending time on things like researching the Suburban Agenda takes away time that is probably better spent elsewhere. But part of what motivated me to run was an uneasy feeling that we are losing our local governments' authority, from the state level on down, to a federal government that is increasingly inept and increasingly interested in taking local control away from us at the state, county and local level. And, further, a feeling that Washington better be focused on its own economic future, because the feds sure aren't!
I've been a local elected and have been engaged for almost 15 years in the ongoing debate about what size of government works best for service delivery - smaller, more de-centralized versus larger, more centralized. Here in the northwest, where we are all about local control, it's a continuing source of discussion and debate. But this Suburban Agenda is unsettling, because it illustrates a present intent by incumbent Republican congressmen and women to pursue what I have feared - increasing federal preemption and chipping away at states' rights and local control, as a method of getting re-elected by distracting attention from federal policy failures. Talk about unhelpful!!
If the Republicans can win on this agenda at the federal level, it means that local control will continue to wane on these issues, and the federal government will continue to duck responsibility for issues that are clearly theirs. It will illustrate what Representative Kirk and his cohorts in Congress believe is a winning strategy for Republicans - that tackling local issues (like juvenile justice and gang control) is effective in directing voters' attention away from the issues that Congress is supposed to be handling ... like the federal trade deficit (debt held in foreign hands), foreign policy (Pentagon, not State) and immigration (slug-fest to follow). McLaughlin's article is persuasive, if you ignore who's responsible for what!!
I wish citizens were more attuned to the implications of all this, but of course, they're busy running their own lives and expect those of us engaged in public policy to look out for them. So, IMHO, state legislators need to be paying attention. If this Suburban Agenda gets traction, the Washington State Legislature should be ready to stand up for us and decline federal intervention or preemption when it is not in our best interests. Yeah, I know this isn't a particularly compelling issue to run on :-)) and sure won't attract much attention (we state candidates tend to focus on education, transportation and the environment almost exclusively, and in 60-second sound bites), but it is important to me, as a full-fledged policy-wonk. And maybe, just maybe, the Suburban Agenda will be seen for what it is and fail miserably.
By the way, while Congress is fixing our schools and drivers licensing programs with their Suburban Agenda, states are left to fend for themselves in sustaining our economic position in major global markets. What a topsy-turvy situation, when Congress is talking about local issues (gangs, libraries, teaching credentials and drivers' licenses) and state legislatures are forced to focus on world trade and balance of payments!!
Deb Eddy on the Republican "Suburban Agenda": Interference in Local Control | 7 comments (7 topical)
Deb Eddy on the Republican "Suburban Agenda": Interference in Local Control | 7 comments (7 topical)
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