What Happens When Dems Play Offense

In Montana right now, we're having a bit of a problem with our public employee pension system like many other states. The fact is, the legislature in 2001 essentially underfunded the pension system to the point where, when investments in Wall Street went bad, the system developed a shortfall. The politics and policies in this fight are instructive for how Democrats can play offense.

First and foremost, this whole thing is an indictment of the GOP's privatization agenda, including the President's plan to privatize Social Security. Throwing people's retirement money to the market, without enacting adequate safeguards to shore up the underlying guaranteed system, can have disastrous effects.

Secondly, and perhaps more interestingly, is how Democrats are using this issue to highlight their strengths and play offense. Essentially, Montana Democrats are making the rock-solid and supported case that the Republicans who controlled things in this state played fast and loose with public employees money, and created this problem by not being more careful. Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) has said he will work to fix this problem that the Republicans created - perfectly and justifiably positioning himself as a solver of problems.

The Billings Gazette article from today highlights exactly what happens when Democrats play offense like this. The story quotes former GOP House Speaker John Mercer whining and crying about being blamed for the pensionlegislation he engineered that ultimately led to these problems. "It doesn't make any sense to engage in a blame game," Mercer said, as if you can almost hear the whine in his voice. "The people who recommended the increase could not have foreseen what happened to investment income."

Similarly, State Sen. Dave Lewis (R), the sponsor of the 2001 pension bill, tried to blame the markets - in effect, inadvertently calling into question his own Republican Party's advocacy of privatizing Social Security and other state pension funds. "The investment loss caused it," said Lewis, who was also the Republicans Lt. Governor nominee against Schweitzer in 2004.

In other words, what we have in Montana right now is the exact opposite of what we have in Washington. Democrats are showing guts, playing offense and fixing problems. Republicans, meanwhile, are running around crying. Even more hilariously, the best attacks they've been able to come up with against Democrats is that Gov. Schweitzer wears jeans (not exactly what I would perceive to be a liability in this state). This is the model Democrats should be working off of: stand up, fight, take no prisoners - and win.

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