Op-Ed by State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, D-Erie, the Chair of the Majority Policy Committee
Just like always, legislative Republicans are looking for someone to blame for their own failures. They’re mad at the voters. They’re mad at the media. You better believe they’re mad at the Democrats.
The problem is, and always was, the guy in their mirror. That guy is the one who went all-in on special interests, all-in on Trump and the MAGA extremists, and, all-in against working families.
So, after controlling the state House for 24 of the last 28 years and controlling the state Senate nonstop since 1995 – 1995! – and delivering a record of failure the Washington Generals would mock, Republicans are claiming they want sanity and compromise.
They’re blaming the “political world” they themselves created – where special interests and bending the knee to Donald Trump are more important than what we should be doing for working families of every size.
They tried to overturn the 2020 election and throw out millions of votes – and they’re still trying to make it harder to vote – but now want to lament partisan politics.
They claim they love “local control” but they refuse to let communities decide for themselves on things like safe workplaces, paid sick leave and public safety. They even tried to impeach an elected official – overturn yet another election – because it made for good headlines.
They’ve kept Pennsylvania’s workers tied for dead last in America on payday for 16 years now, and they’re still trying to make sure corporate donors come first – claiming to be for union workers while doing everything possible to end unions in Pennsylvania.
Why? Because the only thing that gave them those majorities were gerrymandered maps that spat in the face of the idea of “one person, one vote.” Once the Republicans had a fair fight on their hands when it came to the state House, the Republicans lost.
Now, you’re still hearing the same old lies about how only Republicans can handle the economy.
Under Democrats, the national Gross Domestic Product goes up about 4.4% per year. Under Republicans, it goes up 2.5%. Pennsylvania – and America – does better when Democrats are holding the purse strings.
Why? Because we put money in the hands of working people where it’s spent in the community and the power of each dollar is multiplied over and over. We don’t just hand it to big corporations to be tossed in an offshore account where it does nobody any good except hedge fund managers.
Because we fight for better schools and a system that works from the bottom up, people can take new jobs or even start small local businesses. Because we fight for union jobs with better pay and better benefits and a chance to retire.
Because we pay our bills. Right now you’re seeing so-called “fiscal conservatism” on the national debt ceiling. What they’re doing is like you throwing out the credit card bill without paying and then bragging how much money you saved.
Look, if Republicans truly want to move to the middle and compromise, we’re ready. Democrats have a big tent. We don’t march in perfect lockstep like the GOP. We’ve got members from the heart of the biggest cities to the most rural areas. We make it work.
We’re already doing better than they did. We changed the rules to make sure legislative ideas are judged on merit, not on the political party of the prime sponsor. We’re not playing the old games.
We passed bills to help working people and defend the right to join a union. We passed bills to get – and keep – more teachers on the job. We’re giving the people what they’ve wanted for years and never got.
And guess what? Every one of those bills passed with Republican votes.
So, we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing – what the people want – and trust the people who elected us to the majority.
State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro
3rd Legislative District in Erie County
Chair of the Majority Policy Committee
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