Washington Post pundit Dan Balz has a problem: Political polarization has ushered in a new era in state government, where single-party control of the levers of power has produced competing Americas. Republican states have pursued economic and fiscal strategies built around lower taxes, deeper spending cuts and less regulation.... They have clashed with labor unions.... moved to restrict abortion rights or to enact voter-identification laws.... Yes, yes, all true. Yet, at the same time, as Balz also notes: Blue states have also been forced to cut spending, given the budgetary pressures caused by the recession. But... a number of them also have raised taxes.... They have backed the president on the main elements of his health-care law.... Legaliz[ed] same-sex marriages, provid[ed] easier access to voting and... impos[ed] more restrictions on guns. Needless to say, with the exception of cutting spending, conservatives likely oppose all of the blue state policies Balz lists, just as...(Read Full Post)