There was a lot of talk during the election by people on this blog and others about Jack Markell’s progressive street cred. He certainly convinced a lot of progressive Democrats that he would represent their interests. He also convinced a number of moderate Republicans that he would represent them, as they changed party registration to get the chance to vote for him over John Carney. Some of his supporters are Republicans again, like Dominique.
Not much was made of this combination of strange bedfellows (Dominique, Jason, Dana Garrett Steve Newton and even Kilroy), but Jack’s first budget of his Governorship has some of them jumping out of bed like a man waking up after a night of drinking, with a woman he doesn’t know.
Personally, I don’t know what to think about it. Some of the most progressive people that I know are up in arms about the fact that the across-the-board pay cuts are regressive. Which is true if progressive/regressive is a binary choice. I want to believe that Jack is doing what he knows is right. He certainly has surrounded himself with a staff that I would consider progressive and smart.
But on the other hand, it is hard to argue that an 8-10% pay cut for someone making $150K is the same as an 8-10% pay cut for someone making $30K. Hopefully, some of this will be rectified in Leg Hall, but if that was Markell’s strategy, it is a pretty far from a bold new direction.