Political Dysfunction Crippling Economic Recovery

[Virginiá]

If the GOP would just get out of the way the Dems would be running this country great.  For proof, look at all those cities that only elect Dems, they are doing great economically!  Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, the list goes on and on like this.

Cities have their own issues and limitations. Sure, maybe Democrats could have done better, but again, there are limitations. What if a state bars a city from raising its minimum wage? Same thing applies to many other economic ideas that the state can block. Further, what about things like infrastructure investment? This really requires state/federal funding and if that is being blocked by other politicians, it can hurt cities who need better infrastructure. Or what about external factors, like the decline of manufacturing/industry in/around Flint, which led to lost jobs, which led to poverty, which led to crime, which scared away investors, and so on. It's a cycle that a city alone can't always fix.

The idea that failing cities alone show Democratic ideas shouldn't be given the time of day is bs. It's a cooperative effort and cities depend on other levels of government. To judge them as if they had wide latitude and many resources to tackle their issues is disingenuous.

[Virginiá]

A.I never said the ideas shouldn't be given the time of day, I made fun of the idea that if they didn't have people on the other side restraining them we'd all be better off.

A check / balance is one thing, but Republicans are completely obstructing any significant ideas from Democrats. Not only for partisan purposes, but because the ideas of each party are increasingly growing apart and contradictory. So maybe neither party should really have free reign for long periods of time, but let's not act like Republicans are being reasonable about anything. They won't even entertain ideas that enjoy broad public support.

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Haven't cities been overwhelmingly Democratic for just as long? It's easy to blame in that case, but correlation does not imply causation.

I didn't mean to imply every city was, either. My point was that a lot of complex problems exist that a city often alone can not fix.

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They do and they don't. It depends on the state. For instance:

http://www.hrdive.com/news/arizona-bans-local-laws-on-wages-benefits/419138/

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http://wncn.com/2016/03/25/new-north-carolina-law-impacts-states-minimum-wages/

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/26/alabama-passes-law-banning-minimum-wage-increase

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https://thinkprogress.org/state-moves-to-block-cities-from-increasing-minimum-wage-or-requiring-paid-sick-leave-98e5d28446e1#.hyxycnsmj

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Snyder signed that bill, and I doubt Wolf signed the other one, considering he supports paid leave.

My point is that states, namely Republican-controlled states (which means a majority of states) have moved to restrict cities powers of doing anything they (city officials) believe will help their citizens/economies, when it goes against conservative ideas. Other cities not facing these issues, such as in blue states, have only semi-recently begun moving on such proposals, so we'll see how that works out. I don't exactly think it is fair to judge all cities in all aspects when many are being handicapped by the states in which they reside.

I am sure there are more examples, and these don't touch on critical issues like infrastructure investment, which cities cannot fund entirely themselves, but I think this gets my point across. I'd also like to add that this 'states rights' line is such a load of bull. Conservatives just want to be able to do what they want, and since they can't use the federal government, they cry for local control, but only local as in state level. At that point, they ignore the desires of counties and cities because their desire for local control never had anything to do with that. It was all about getting what they wanted in any way possible.

Look, Democrats deserve some blame but, imo, not nearly as much as conservatives like to pin on them. That is what I am saying. I'd also like to ask, if a state bans a city from implementing many pro-worker policies, and then consequently the plight of the workers worsens, isn't that also a reflection of failed state policy?