Breakfast with Broder

Pretty enlightening program this morning with David Broder regarding the current political climate and how state legislatures can address priority issues in this political environment. He framed the current atmosphere as only someone of his caliber can.

While most of the conversation centered around the '08 election, state this morning included the National Popular Vote Act many states are considering and federal unfunded mandates routinely handed down to the states -- said that dissent by the states can be a useful thing to Congress to be confronted with reality on some issues (such as the Real ID Act; Utah on No Child Left Behind). Governments must consider what to do if other levels of government won't implement these mandates (goes for Congress and the states). He made it a point to mention that we're a training ground for Congress and that some federal legislators that come to Congress from the state legislature immediately forget where they came from.