Corporate media propagandists spewed so much hot air about the supposed lessons of the Massachusetts special election that it's a surprise global warming wasn't measurably impacted. But don't expect much analysis about the lessons of the Oregon special election.
Turkana's diary :: :: It's not only that corporate media types think of Oregon as a small and distant land, it's more that the results of the Oregon special election don't fit the media's concocted narrative. But while there are countless ways to interpret the results of a personality-drive Senate campaign, Oregon was about issues, and the results tell us a lot about the mood of the voters, on the issues. And despite an economy that is still staggering, and despite an unemployment rate that's a full point above the terrible national rate, Oregon voters, by a significant margin, chose to raise taxes to ensure government services. That's the lesson, and it needs to be emphasized: voters will willingly raise taxes to pay for government services.
So much media spin is about the failures of government. Not only the failures of particular political parties and particular politicians, but of government itself. It's an insidious underlying theme. Promoting it is one of the defining motives of the Republican Party. And it's no wonder Republicans do such a lousy job of governing, given that they don't even believe in the role of government to serve the people. To siphon the people's money into the coffers of their corporate owners, sure, but not to help improve people's lives. The latter is the Democratic Party's job. That's why the more we prove the value of government, the better Democrats do, electorally. While the Republicans try to frame it as Big Government vs. Small Government, it really should be about Good Government vs. Bad Government. This is the large picture that so many are missing. This is the forest that's always endangered by the buzz saws bearing down on the trees.
Continued>>>
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/27/830882/-The-Lesson-of-Oregon:-People-are-willing-to-pay-for-good-government.