A year under President Trump has blurred political memory, as every policy victory and every accompanying scandal dominates the news cycle and obscures the President Barack Obama years more and more.
But do you remember 2008? People were talking about living wages and single payer healthcare plans. They were singing about saving the planet and reining in corporations. There is a place where these ideas still exist — not as bullet points on Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising emails, but as a reality:
New Jersey.
The dream of progressives is alive in the Garden State, thanks to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who unveiled a new $37.4 billion budget Tuesday that hikes spending by eight percent.
“A higher minimum wage, higher Uber fares and higher taxes on millionaires.” That’s how the Record summarized the spending proposal, which couldn’t be more different than New Jersey under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Or the direction of politics under Trump, for that matter.
There is a grab bag of progressive policies, too, like a minimum wage of $15 and marijuana legalization. All of this, of course, is what Murphy campaigned on. This is what voters asked for when they went overwhelmingly for Democrats. It’s almost like Clinton won —- the Trump administration never happened in the Garden State.
The Trump base might not notice. They have grown comfortable, insulated by a hefty serving of Fox News and comforted by united Republican government. But if they think twice about showing up in 2018, those faithful ought to look to New Jersey.
