The recent edicts of the Supreme Court on guns, abortion, the sovereignty of Native tribes and environmental regulations threaten to return federal law to the inequities of the 19th century — or, for that matter, the 18th, 17th and 16th centuries. But Democrats in the Senate refuse to discard the filibuster, giving Republicans the ability to block any measure they choose.
We live in a country that — thanks to the founders’ intent — continually enables a minority to thwart the will of the majority, where corporate contributions and lobbying corrupt the decision making of Republicans and Democrats alike and gerrymandering ensures partisan advantage for Republicans in the majority of states. We would be fooling ourselves if we thought we could make systemic, progressive advances in such a political system. We can’t.
Now consider that states can be, and are, laboratories for autocracy. Consider the recent state laws across the country denying abortion access, workers the right to form powerful unions and health coverage to the poorest Americans, all while handing out tax subsidies to the most powerful and wealthy corporations in the world.
This doesn’t mean that we just give up. States and cities can also be laboratories for democracy, embedding laws that ensure the economic security, health and safety of us all. How do we know that? Because we have already done it in our state.
Consider our statewide minimum wage of $14.49 and Seattle’s minimum wage of $17.27....
Read Full Story:
https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2022/08/10/washingtonians-should-continue...