Submitted for your reading pleasure — the New York Times today has side-by-side feature articles looking at two states, Wisconsin and Massachusetts Connecticut.

In Wisconsin, the Republican governor and legislature are cranking out right-wing legislation at lighting speed, in case the upcoming recall elections gives the Senate to a Democratic majority. Of course, as a safety measure, they have also enacted laws that may stop a lot of people from voting.

In just the last few weeks, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, has signed legislation to require voters to show photo identification cards at the polls and to deregulate elements of the telecommunications industry. And the Republican-dominated Legislature is now in the midst of advancing provisions to expand school vouchers, to allow people to carry concealed weapons, to cut financing for Planned Parenthood and to bar illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition at Wisconsin’s universities.

In Connecticut, Democrats control the state government and have gotten more progressive —

Lawmakers over the last several weeks have enacted the largest tax increase in Connecticut history and approved the nation’s first law to mandate paid sick leave for some workers. They voted to extend protections for transgender people, to charge in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants, to extend an early-release program for prisoners and to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Connecticut didn’t just raise taxes; it also cut spending and got some concessions from public employee unions that have yet to be approved. Apparently they are trying to balance the budget without cutting education and other needed services. I just hope the people of Connecticut don’t have a meltdown over tax increases.