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Shortly after the conclusion of the 2016 Vice-Presidential debate between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence, Washington Post journalist Chris Cillizza’s described it as “super depressing”: “I found myself wishing it were over at 10pm,” Cillizza wrote of a debate that would go on for another half hour, “And I love this stuff more than anyone I […]
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Ever since the meltdown in Florida starting on election day 2000, there has been a spotlight on how elections are run. Since that time, the states have been the venue for many election reforms, lawsuits, innovations, and controversies. There have been massive improvements in voting technology, rapid increases in early voting, and whole host of […]
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With tax season and budget cuts raining down on us, Jeffrey M. Stonecash takes a closer look at how New York state ended up drowning in debt in an op-ed for this weekend's New York Times. Stonecash is Maxwell Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University and an author of three Cambridge books: Reassessing the Incumbency Effect (2008), Dynamics of American Political Parties (with Mark D. Brewer, 2009), and the forthcoming Counter Realignment: Political Change in the Northeastern United States (with Howard L. Reiter, October 2010). -------- The New York Times, March 28, 2010, Op-Ed Contributor Overspending Is a Bipartisan Affliction By JEFFREY STONECASH New York has some of the highest state and local taxes in the country, as well as high (and rising) debt from years of borrowing. Why? Because both political parties have electoral bases that support spending. For most of the 20th century, Democrats were out of power in the Legislature. But beginning with victories after Watergate in 1974, they began building a majority in the Assembly, drawing votes from people in New York City and upstate urban areas. That base wanted spending on Medicaid, social service programs and schools. Gradually, Democrats appealed to suburban voters who also wanted more school aid. Until last year, the Senate had been held for decades by the Republicans, who win more seats in suburban districts that are generally more affluent. They might have been a voice for fiscal restraint — if it were not for the fact that Republican Party enrollment in the state has been steadily sliding, from 50 percent of voters in 1957 to only 25 percent today. Senate Republicans have fought to preserve what votes they have by delivering more school aid for the suburbs. Keep reading at The New York Times > > >
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Steven Smith is the Director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr. Smith remarks on Specter's decision to run as a Democrat.
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