Liberal Conservative

Politics In "The New War Between the States," Fund (2014) discusses the implications of states and cities that have high taxes, including income taxes, versus those with low tax rates. The author's thesis is that states with lower taxes foster economic growth, which is why many people are moving to those areas. In fact, lower taxes are being used as a marketing tool to attract investors as well as new residents. Similarly, tax rates are playing a major role in political campaigns.

The author frames the issue squarely as being one of liberal vs. conservative political practices. Cities with liberal mayors, and states with liberal governors, often lose residents who flee to more business-friendly areas, according to the author. Union-friendly political practices are especially heinous, causing residents and businesses to sink "further into economic stagnation," according to Fund (2014). On the other hand, many states are lowering or eliminating state income taxes altogether to stimulate their economic growth.

The southern states are especially leaning more toward economic growth via tax breaks or tax elimination programs, as well as investor-friendly business climates. Clearly and unequivocally, Fund (2014) frames the argument in terms of liberal vs. conservative politics. In this article, the author uses the terms "liberal" and "conservative" frequently, in conjunction with standard and accepted definitions of those terms. For example, the author states, "The U.S. is swiftly becoming a tale of two nations.

States that are following the Reagan model of low taxes and incentives are booming while states that are opting for the Obama model of wealth redistribution and European welfare-state economics are stagnating." Invoking Reagan is a definite sign of the fiscally conservative stance embraced in this article. Similarly, the author states, "even cities with liberal leadership benefit from statewide policies that increase incentives for job creation." Thus, the primary area of concern for Fund (2014) is not social conservativism but fiscal conservativism.

Fund (2014) makes a point to pick on labor unions and corresponding political support for them, linking unions to liberalism. The core political issue in the article is economic policy, with the conservative platform of small government and little to no taxes being championed over the typically liberal platform of higher taxes that are theoretically channeled into public infrastructure. Interestingly, the author makes no mention of how public infrastructure, including services related to transportation and education, would be paid for in areas with no taxes and uses logical fallacies.