If we are wise and if we are clever, we will learn, not only from our own mistakes but from the mistakes of others.
We can only hope and persuade the political-elect NOT to follow in the footsteps of the conservative majority that won in 2010.
They over-reached, they used their legislative majority to force minority views and policies on the state without achieving any kind of consensus. Real governance requires consensus, not power politics.
The conservatives used their election to wage culture war. That is wrong. We adjust and adapt and evolve our social conscience over time. There are proper places and methods for that to take place - see consensus above.
We need to be both fiscally responsible, but also realistic and to engage in facts and objective reality. There is a time and place in government for revenue; cutting taxes is NOT the one-size fits all solution that the right believed and forced on us. It is time to have reasonable taxation, and sensible spending again, beginning with taxing the rich.
It is time to recognize that corporations are not people, and that there has to be a choice between serving the big money special interests like those in ALEC, which wrote legislation to benefit themselves, and then bought conservative politicians to pass it for them - or choosing to serve the PEOPLE of Minnesota. Our elected legislators cannot serve two masters; they must serve US, not outside interests, not big business before 'little people'.
The 2012 election was a reminder that people vote, not corporations; and billionaires only get one vote, the same as poor people.
It is probably hopeless to expect the extremists, including those low-information / misinformed tea partiers, will consider the benefits of moderation. But there were many moderate conservatives who did abandon their extremist party members this time. It should be possible to work with them, to compromise with them, and to form a consensus with them.
Ideally, the strengths and weaknesses of the right and left should be complimentary, making the whole stronger. The extremists on the right broke that system. We have a chance to repair it, to move forward better and stronger, and to fix our foundational problems together, like structural unemployment and structurally deteriorating infrastructure, instead of waging silly-assed culture war that tries to turn back the clock 50 or 100 years.
We can do better than that, but only by learning from our past mistakes - and theirs.
The place to begin is the Un-American efforts to institutionalize voter fraud, and the economically unsuccessful misplaced austerity. Those are relatively easy and obvious places to start that were dreadful mistakes by the right.
The electoin is over; roll up your sleeves, and let us begin.
We can only hope and persuade the political-elect NOT to follow in the footsteps of the conservative majority that won in 2010.
They over-reached, they used their legislative majority to force minority views and policies on the state without achieving any kind of consensus. Real governance requires consensus, not power politics.
The conservatives used their election to wage culture war. That is wrong. We adjust and adapt and evolve our social conscience over time. There are proper places and methods for that to take place - see consensus above.
We need to be both fiscally responsible, but also realistic and to engage in facts and objective reality. There is a time and place in government for revenue; cutting taxes is NOT the one-size fits all solution that the right believed and forced on us. It is time to have reasonable taxation, and sensible spending again, beginning with taxing the rich.
It is time to recognize that corporations are not people, and that there has to be a choice between serving the big money special interests like those in ALEC, which wrote legislation to benefit themselves, and then bought conservative politicians to pass it for them - or choosing to serve the PEOPLE of Minnesota. Our elected legislators cannot serve two masters; they must serve US, not outside interests, not big business before 'little people'.
The 2012 election was a reminder that people vote, not corporations; and billionaires only get one vote, the same as poor people.
It is probably hopeless to expect the extremists, including those low-information / misinformed tea partiers, will consider the benefits of moderation. But there were many moderate conservatives who did abandon their extremist party members this time. It should be possible to work with them, to compromise with them, and to form a consensus with them.
Ideally, the strengths and weaknesses of the right and left should be complimentary, making the whole stronger. The extremists on the right broke that system. We have a chance to repair it, to move forward better and stronger, and to fix our foundational problems together, like structural unemployment and structurally deteriorating infrastructure, instead of waging silly-assed culture war that tries to turn back the clock 50 or 100 years.
We can do better than that, but only by learning from our past mistakes - and theirs.
The place to begin is the Un-American efforts to institutionalize voter fraud, and the economically unsuccessful misplaced austerity. Those are relatively easy and obvious places to start that were dreadful mistakes by the right.
The electoin is over; roll up your sleeves, and let us begin.
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