Families Aren’t Moving to Minnesota
October 4, 2024
Conservatives have long criticized the progressive tendencies to assume that government is always the solution and to judge policies by their intentions rather than their results. Both fallacies were on full display in a recent piece by Catherine Rampell in The Washington Post, in which she argued that Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz has helped make Minnesota the model of a pro-family state.
In this telling, free school lunches, assistance with children’s medical insurance, free college for low-income families, and paid family leave have all been “politically smart, fiscally sound and family-friendly.” They are also, she wrote, “long overdue pretty much everywhere else in America,” and proof that “one major party cares about children and families; and the other does not.” She then concluded that “Democrats should seriously consider rebranding themselves as the ‘MAMA’ ticket: ‘Make America Minnesota Already,’” to trump Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand.
