Involvement with the Local Community-Organizing Group.

A few Sundays ago I was part of a group of people meeting with the local state rep to express our concern for impending budget cuts that affect the social safety net. The guy was awesome - he was this older white guy with a closely-shaven head and handlebar moustache, and he self-identified as a white gay male "living with AIDS" and a "self-proclaimed bleeding heart liberal", and, to boot, he was like, "No one has appreciated drug rehab services more than me, or hates insurance companies more."

Better yet, he had a good sense of humor and seems to have successfully fought for small but important policy changes within his domain.

Overall, though, I was struck by how he said the state had raised the level of services over the years but kept taxes flat, which was okay during a growing economy, but it was done with no foresight and now the state is paying the price. That really resonated with me and made me think of what's happening in Wisconsin, and so in the post-meeting debrief, I said that the state and the nation was still paying the price of Voodoo Economics, and that was crippling the country and, like Obama had been saying, it was time to start thinking about investing again in things that make us strong, like infrastructure and research and education.

When I said that, I looked around, and everyone in the room was just looking at me and nodding.

The next day, there was a press conference since the group had along with a county rep managed to get some anti-gang money for my new neighborhood, and I ran into the state rep again. I told him that after the meeting I was thinking how it was a good thing that he and the other legislators had raised taxes, and it was time to end this Voodoo Economics mindset. He said he agreed, and that a lot of people from city and county and state government have secretly told him that they were glad for the tax raises, and it was about time.