A Simple Plea for Federalism
Columnist Ron Hart looks at the desires of some folks in Vermont and some in the Southern League who want to secede from the U.S. and each other. He proposes a federalist solution:
My solution to the unworkable yet appealing idea of secession is to devolve more powers to the states and fewer to Washington. It is what our Founding Fathers intended. And if you read the Federalist Papers, you will realize that they never intended our central government in Washington to be this expansive and overbearing.
If you want an abortion, then move to a state that allows it. If you want to smoke weed, then go to California. If you think that we should pay for everything a lazy welfare person demands, then go to a state that gives them flat-screen TVs and, instead of government cheese, offers an assortment of French cheeses that are both delicious and presented in a pleasing manner.
The basic reason that we fought for our independence is to do what we damn well please as long as it does not harm others. Yet at every turn, the federal government seems to want to make us do as they think we should, even if it comes down to using windmills, driving a Toyota Prius, or now, being forced to join the Hillary Health Care Plan….
Our free-spending federal government thinks it is doing things well, and is filled with enough hubris to believe that it should tell other countries what to do—it calls it foreign policy. The real answer is that less money and power need to be vested with them and more at the state level.
Generally speaking, I couldn't agree more. Now, how do we get there?