The Republican Party champions individual rights and local control of government — except when they don’t like it. Brandon Vick doesn’t like what Seattle is doing, so he wants to pass a law to prevent it. And many of his Republican colleagues have signed on.
Seattle wants to generate revenue by taxing wealthy residents. Taxing anyone in Washington is controversial, and the tax is facing legal challenges, but the local political leaders in Seattle have determined it necessary and for the greater good, so designed a local tax levy.
For Republicans, shouldn’t this be the end of the story? Our local Republican leaders have already abandoned this “local control” and “personal rights” principle to speak against a variety of issues, including women’s reproductive rights, funding public schools, and immigration and sanctuary cities. At the same time, they use the same principle to argue against things such as mandatory measles vaccines.
Sure, the head stinks, but it seems the entire Republican Party might reconsider the hypocrisy in their basic principle. It’s easy to champion personal freedom and local control when you agree with the issue. It takes character to do the same on issues that you don’t agree on.
