by Dean Shutt

Created on: December 18, 2006   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

What the Dems Could Be

I am not a democrat, as far as I can recall, I have never been a democrat. There may have been a short period there in the early 90's that I was, but I pretty much block that period of my life from my thoughts. I agree with the dems on some things, but I tend to disagree with them on personal freedom issues like gun control. Plus I just have a general sense that they think they know what is best for me which I don't really appreciate.

The thing is, it doesn't have to be that way. You can have an active government and personal freedom. It is my feeling that dems should pick up the mantle of the states' rights party that the republicans have dropped. Democrats could be the party of innovation for a new century, allowing the states to handle issues like gun control, experiments with school choice and so on. What works can be scaled up to the national level, what doesn't work can be scrapped.

If dems truly believe that vouchers will destroy public education, why not allow Iowa to try it and see what happens? If the dems are right then you only have to fix Iowa's schools, if they are wrong they can admit and get behind a nationwide system of vouchers. Part of innovation is trying things that you don't think will work on the off chance that they succeed.

Once you establish with the public that you have no interest in controlling every aspect of their lives, it will be much easier to sell them on the idea of using the federal government's vast purchasing power to centralize health care delivery. States just aren't large enough to control health care costs themselves, but the federal government easily has enough clout to rein in costs and deliver health care at a far more reasonable rate that private insurance.

In a nutshell the democrats should position themselves as the party that believes in "a federal government that delivers services, but not directives." Come to think of it, that isn't a bad tag line.

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