An open letter to newly elected conservative lawmakers
Don't let myths and ideology control your actions
By Rob Schofield
Dear Friends:
Now that the campaign is over and you are about to take over the levers of power in North Carolina government, there are a few things that some of us in the progressive movement would ask you to consider - about our state, about the budget and the public services and structures it funds and about the nature of our concerns.
We offer this appeal with all sincerity and in good faith.
To begin, we'd ask that you please bring an open mind to Raleigh. Over the decades, countless politicians who based their campaigns on a particular argument have come to discover upon entering office that they had received bad information. In 1960, John F. Kennedy famously campaigned on a supposed "missile gap." When he took office, however, he discovered that it did not exist.
We believe that a similar phenomenon may now be at work in North Carolina. This is especially true if you are basing all of your opinions and attitudes upon what you have seen and heard on FOX News, talk radio or the various reports and opinion pieces generated by the conservative think tanks here in Raleigh.
To illustrate this point, consider a recent essay written by a staffer at the Pope-Civitas Institute. It was produced in an effort to take this author to task for saying the following in Raleigh's News & Observer regarding the huge state budget cuts currently under consideration:
"These kinds of cuts would be an absolute disaster. They would decimate a host of already underfunded programs and wipe out decades of progress. We're talking about firing thousands of teachers, health care providers, mental health workers, and providers of aid to seniors.
"If we want North Carolina to look like some dark, crumbling rust belt state that's all but given up on progress, that is merely trying to survive, these are the kinds of cuts we would implement"
In the essay, the staffer tosses out a volley of statements and statistics that purport to show that progressives are a bunch of power hungry freaks and that state government spending is out of control.
At first blush, some of these arguments might seem persuasive - especially if you don't get to hear much from progressives. The truth, however, is just the opposite.
Here, therefore, is a sincere and genuine response that seeks to bust a few myths and maybe even uncover some common ground: [Read more...]
