Why Republicans Are Better at the State Level
Posted at 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 21
Josh Barro explains why Republicans have been much more successful at winning elections and implementing their policy agendas at the state and local level than at the federal level.
“The idea that government should run like a business or a household has led Republicans dangerously astray at the federal level, but this actually isn’t a terrible frame for thinking about states. A highway department is a lot more like a business than Social Security is.”
“Although the federal government mostly moves money around, states and localities have lots of employees and direct operations, so greater efficiency really can go a long way. And state budgets really do need to be (more or less) balanced annually.”
