Washington is divided Because it has Abandoned Federalism

Washington Examiner ^ | August 14, 2014 | Philip Klein

[Jacquerie]

It may sound pedestrian to point out, but it’s critical to restate why it’s so important that our nation is called the United States of America, and not simply America.

The full name emphasizes that the Founders viewed the nation not as one monolithic entity but as a union of sovereign entities delegating limited powers to a central government.

To preserve this balance, the Founders put a number of checks in the U.S. Constitution, most notably creating the Senate, which allows for equal membership from every state, thus preventing states with larger populations from running roughshod over the interests of smaller ones.

Originally senators were elected by state legislatures as a way of making sure that state interests were protected in Washington — a check that eroded with the passage of the 17th Amendment allowing for their direct election.

In other words, the Founders made it intentionally difficult to pass major legislation at the national level that would trample over the desires of smaller states.

Instead of trying to solve every issue at the national level, power should be shifted back to the states. Under such a system, instead of bitterly hashing out every issue in Washington, Congress could be focusing on a limited range of issues.

[Graewoulf]

Great article! Thanks!

However, if “ - - - power should be shifted back to the states - - - - “
then the GOP-E had better give walking papers to every RINO in Congress, starting with Boehner.

[Jacquerie]

Ethic replacement, awful schools, a populace hooked on government largess . . . it doesn't bode well at all.

[Jacquerie]

I think a return to federalism, devolution of power from DC to the states would destroy the Uniparty hold on our nation.

[x]

You didn’t read the column.

I thought I did, but just in case I read it over again.

State legislators don't want the responsibility of providing services or the blame for imposing the taxes to pay for them. It's a self-selecting process. Legislators who want power and can shoulder the responsibility want to move up to Washington. Those who want to stay where they are just want a quiet berth without any added trouble.

It's not the 17th Amendment that changed things, but the 16th. Once the federal government got the power to levy direct taxes -- and then the World Wars and withholding taxes -- it held the purse strings and the states would look to it to provide the pork. Since then, state legislators are only too willing to let the feds do the heavy lifting for them.