The dialog and comparisons between Governor O'Malley and Governor McDonnell published in the past few issues of the Examiner are very informative.
McDonnell, O'Malley spar over economy, spending
McDonnell, O'Malley differ on unions' rights
Each of the two state so may enact its own policies and the people can choose to vote with their feet if they prefer one set
of policies versus the other. We have two states in very comparable situations. Both sit adjacent to the nations capitol, both have a large presence of government jobs and related contracting fueling their respective economies, and of course both have very similar climates. The differences of the state lay rooted in policy. One has right-to-work legislation while the other imposes collective bargaining. One taxes at low rates, and the other taxes at high rates. One believes government spending serves as a major component to economic recovery, and the other believes that the private sector does that better than government. DC has it's own approaches to these issues, more similarly to our neighbor directly to the north. Let's
watch this ongoing comparison and judge them on results.
As a DC resident who is trying to decide where I may want to live on a more permanent basis one day, I'm watching this debate very closely. Which of the three areas will offer me the best environment as a resident, taxpayer, and recipient of government services? I asked Mayor Gray at a town hall several months ago what he's doing to make DC more competitive to bring new business investment into DC, citing how low DC ranks in business friendliness. To paraphrase his answer, he claims DC doesn't have to worry about attracting new business because it already offers a competitive environment. Decide for yourself if that addresses the issue.
Given all the evidence of budgets, deficits, and unemployment figures, Virginia is cleaning the other two's clock. This is federalism at work, where we can observe which ideas work the best in our nation, and our federal government should recognize that for this reason amongst others state governments should drive most public policy, not the federal government. If each respective party believes their ideas truly are the better ideas, they should embrace this concept to far
greater degree.
