Red State or Blue State- Freedom of Choice and Kitchen Table Issues Matter to Americans
Even though most Americans share basic beliefs when it comes to wanting good health care, good schools, job opportunities, fair wages, roads and bridges in good repair, and the freedom to have divergent opinions without the fear of being shut down, we live in a relatively divided country these days when it comes to the laws being passed by red or blue state houses. States are not equivalent when it comes to having freedom and a good life for yourself and your family, two things most Americans care about. Your life is directly impacted by the people in your state legislature- the people elected to power in your state house.
If you live in a red state you are likely to get extreme laws that are passed by a right wing state legislature as is happening in Florida and Texas. If you are a woman who lives in a red states you could be deprived of your health care these days. Reproductive health care for women is central to their physical and emotional well being. If you or someone you love needs an abortion or is having a miscarriage not only could your physicians risk their licenses if they help you or your loved one, they could risk prison sentences if they even advise someone about what to do depending on the state where you live. Given that a physician takes the Hippocratic Oath to provide whatever medical help his or her patients need, many gynecologists are leaving red states like Texas for blue states that do not punish the provision of reproductive healthcare support for their patients.
Physicians are not the only professionals thinking twice about living in a red state. Other professionals in a multitude of businesses will want to leave red states with extreme laws as well because of the imposition red state legislatures are making on the choices of Americans who live in those states. Those restrictions are also creating shorter life expectancy for people living in red states. Universities and colleges in red states could be shunned by young women who do not want to have their periods monitored by the government in the future. If you want control over what your children get to read, red states are depriving parents of those choices with their book bans. Gun deaths, greater poverty, and divisive culture war policies are likely to make red states less attractive to Americans who value freedom of choice. It is remarkable that Republicans who want government to be hands off, “live free or die”, are telling others what to do with their bodies and telling others what they can and cannot read. And if free choice is the key to happiness for most Americans then why isn’t that the case when it comes to being free to live without fear that your child could be killed by a mass murderer just by going to school? How about living free from the lack of scientific and fact based information that impairs safety when it comes to climate change, food safety, and health?
Jennifer Rubin writes about the problem that red states are creating for themselves with their extreme laws:
Let’s start with elected Republicans in red-state governments. “Republican-dominated states are pushing out young professionals by enacting extremist conservative policies,” Timothy Noah wrote last year in the New Republic. “Abortion restrictions are the most sweeping example, but state laws restricting everything from academic tenure to transgender health care to the teaching of ‘divisive concepts’ about race are making these states uncongenial to knowledge workers.”
In particular, living in a red state has become injurious to women’s health given the prevalence of “maternity care deserts” (multiplying in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.) Thirty-nine percent of counties in states that restrict abortion have “no hospitals or birthing centers that offer obstetric care and no individual obstetric providers (not even midwives)”; in Texas, that number is 46.5 percent.
Moreover, as I have written, red states on average have more gun deaths, shorter life expectancy, more child poverty and inferior rates of education. Though some red states can tout that they are gaining population — largely due to cheaper housing (query whether that will be sustainable in places such as Florida that now have a housing and home insurance crisis) — “the college-educated minority, which moves much more frequently, prefers relocating to a blue state,” Noah wrote.
Democratic governors in blue and purple states facing shortages of skilled workers can make attractive offers to lure red states’ skilled workers (and students) — just as labor agents recruited workers from the South in the early 20th century. Everything from liberal transfer policies for college students to reciprocal professional licensure to relocation stipends for government workers should be on the table. (Some states might prioritize skilled manufacturing workers. Others might focus on medical professionals or teachers.)
Such targeted recruitment would have two benefits. First, the recruiting states would increase their wealth and quality of life, and Democratic leaders would gain recognition for policies that make those states attractive. Equally important, red states would come under pressure to reexamine the policies that diminish the health, economic opportunity and well-being of their residents. Losing taxpaying residents and the services they provide could have serious ramifications for Republicans.
Until they pay a price for backward policies, red states have little reason to change. The best result would be red states improve the availability of health care, modify gun laws and take other steps to prevent drifting into Third World status. (Jennifer Rubin- Washington Post)
Blue states will benefit from the influx of educated Americans and physicians. Red state policies are likely to drive the best and brightest to move to blue states or stay in blue states rather than move to a red state, further diminishing the allure of their states. In short, unless they change course, red states will become more and more unappealing to many millions of Americans.
WOULD MODEL BLUE STATES BE MORE ATTRACTIVE TO MOST AMERICANS?
Democratic governors could also make their states stand out as more appealing to the best and brightest by consciously creating model states that offer better public education, housing opportunities, reasonable gun safety regulations and well paying work opportunities. These next four years could help blue state governors promote their states as the best places to work, live and raise a family.
In Minnesota Governor Walz in his second term with a blue trifecta in the state legislature was able to get the following done for the people of his state:
- Free school breakfasts and lunches in all schools in MN
- Abortion rights codified into law after the Dobbs decision.
- Universal background checks for gun sales and a red flag policy.
- Paid family and medical leave for close to 1 million workers.
- A climate plan and investment in clean and safe energy requiring clean energy output by utilities by 2040.
- Affordable housing investment, rental assistance, and homeownership help for people who want to make MN their home.
THE MICHIGAN STORY
In Michigan, after Democrats gained full control of the Legislature and governor’s mansion for the first time in 40 years, they focused on both pocketbook priorities and cultural issues.
They shepherded through a major tax package, and, to the consternation of some in the business community, made Michigan the first state in nearly 60 years to repeal right-to-work rules, which had weakened organized labor. They have expanded L.G.B.T.Q. protections and pursued anti-gun violence measures, and have moved to repeal a now-unenforceable abortion ban from 1931.
Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, with the help of the Democratically led state legislature accomplished a lot for the people living in that state:
- Signed over 1350 bipartisan bills into law.
- Rolled back tax on retirement funds.
- Got working families a tax credit.
- “Fixed the damn roads” as she promised to do- 20,000 miles of them, 1,400 bridges, creating 118,000 jobs.
- Rebuilt the auto industry with 40,000 more jobs.
- Breakfast and lunch programs for 1.4 million public school students.
- Free pre-K and community college access for the people living in Michigan.
- Lowered the cost of community college.
- Expanded affordable child care for 150,000 or more kids and their families.
- Invested 1.6 billion in public safety measures.
- 1 million people were covered by “Healthy Michigan”.
- Brought down the debt by $18 billion and did not raise taxes.
- Upgraded water, internet and parks in the state.
It is important for blue states to get a grip on crime and immigrant tent cities that are seen as blights representing an inability to govern and provide safety. Those problems contribute to serious ruptures of trust and failures for which most Americans blame the Democrats. Americans want their government to look out for them: their well being, their safety, their food prices and healthcare. People don’t like the idea that immigrants can enter the country illegally and then benefit from systems in our country that should be providing for legal citizens. Americans understandably want the focus to be on them and their needs.
Even in deeply red states, Democratic governors who focus on helping the people of their state instead of waging culture wars or imposing book bans and other politically motivated actions get high marks. Two good examples are Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas. Red and purple states will elect Democrats as governors when they are convinced that the person cares about their wellbeing. We will need more Democrats elected as governors to move the country in a more progressive direction. One exceptionally well run group that is making that happen is the Democratic Governors Association.
THE POWER OF GOVERNORS TO APPOINT
One of the most important powers a governor has is the power to appoint apolitical judges. This is a hugely impactful power. 48 out of the 50 governors can appoint judges in their states. That is important when it comes to reproductive freedom as well as other rights. In some cases state supreme court judges are able to effectively restore freedoms that have been removed by the Supreme Court such as the freedom to get an abortion and be provided reproductive health care which was removed as a national right when the Supreme Court overturned Roe with the Dobbs decision. State supreme courts can overturn or temper redistricting and gerrymandering efforts by MAGAs in the state legislatures and they can enforce voting rights.
Funding from the national government often flows to the states and it is up to the states to decide how that money will be spent. Remarkably, many Americans don’t even know who their state representatives are and they do not pay attention to state court judges either. But you should get to know them and you need to care about who represents you in your state house. Your state governor, state legislators and state court judges actually impact your life more than many of the people who get elected to national office.
Our current Supreme Court of the United States has been big on states’ rights. The Court has been delegating more power to the states which means that your life could be very very different depending on the state you choose to live in if you are a woman who might get pregnant, a gay person, a person who needs gender affirming care, a person who does not believe the state should be able to impose religious ideology or a sanitized version of history on its citizens with book bans and school vouchers. States are, in some ways, becoming more like countries. This trend is likely to continue under Trump 2.0.
Be aware of this red state blue state difference if you have a choice about the state you raise a family in, go to college in, work in, or retire to.
