Progressive Federalism

We've detailed in the past the way new international trade deals empower corporations to undermine local regulations. A recent case highlights just how byzantine and dangerous the process is getting: A Canadian mining company is using a recently established Nevada subsidiary to use the federal Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to try and overturn mining regulations in El Salvador. Earlier this month, a tribunal under CAFTA ruled against the US government’s objections to the mining company's lawsuit and allowed the case to proceed.

When big bank speculation crashed the economy, millions were driven into unemployment.  But, according to a new study by two leading economists, the combination of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) loans to banks, loosening of the money supply, and federal stimulus funds for states and individuals, helped stop a far worse potential full-out Depression that would have left an additional 8.5 million Americans without jobs on top of the 8 million who have lost their jobs since the recession started-- what would have been a nearly doubling of the job loss due to the economic crisis.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ended its term with a bang with a ruling in McDonald v.

The challenge for progressives from this “states rights” movement is not that any of these laws are likely to survive in court, but that conservatives too often get away with claiming to stand for constitutional values without significant challenge from progressives.  The reality is that the right wing has no credibility in promoting their states’ rights arguments and should be challenged more directly.  As this Dispatch will outline, their arguments fail on multiple grounds:

• First, conservative constitutional history is dead wrong.  The progressive vision of collaborative federalism between federal and state governments clearly reflects the “original intent” of the Constitution’s creators  – including those who promoted the Constitutional Amendments enacted throughout our history.
• Second, conservative leaders are constitutional hypocrites, talking about “states rights” even as they support federal laws that restrict state authority in order to protect corporate special interests. 
• Finally, unlike conservatives, progressives practice real respect for state authority by promoting and supporting state innovation and flexibility, a far more compelling practice of federalism than the rigid and false constitutional doctrine promoted by the right wing.

 

State governments may seek additional funding for up to three additional years on broadband projects. The announcement comes from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) who recognized that "better data and strategic planning are needed on the state level.

After years of states leading the fight to promote clean energy and reverse climate change and the House passing an energy bill last year, U.S. Senate leaders have finally introduced climate change legislation, the American Power Act (APA).  The bill is lengthy and complex with compromises that many leading environmental groups object to, although other groups have more positive evaluations of the bill as a flawed, but important step forward.

As Congress debates federal financial reform legislation, a key priority for financial industry lobbyists remains gutting provisions that would strengthen enforcement by state attorneys general and stopping the partial restoration of state powers to regulate national bank abuses against consumers.  As we detailed three years ago, much of the damage to communities from subprime lending might have been avoided if the Bush Administration had not been able to shut down most state anti-predatory lending laws early in the decade.

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) recently released its third quarterly report on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The report generally confirms what economists across the board have concluded: the Recovery Act has prevented a full economic collapse; generated millions of jobs; boosted national economic performance; and provided sorely needed state fiscal relief.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The annual report by the White House task force monitoring the impact of ARRA funds, led by Vice-President Joe Biden, finds that up to 2.4 million jobs have been created or saved in both the public and private sector as a result of federal recovery efforts. 

How do we know the Recovery Act is working?

Over 70 members of the House of Representatives vociferously opposed ARRA, but returned to their home districts to take credit for job creation, investments in infrastructure and the green economy, and spending on critical community needs.  Many of these same lawmakers requested further federal funds for projects in their states.