Fred Thompson, I’m afraid, is guilty of taking his federalist viewpoint to the point where it’s harmful.
He’s dead wrong on national tort reform, for instance. In this age of venue shopping, interstate and internet commerce, and being in a litigious society, it’s vital to shore up tort reform at a national level. It really doesn’t matter if 48 states have a specific loophole closed. All it takes is one loophole in the Idaho tax code, and then the dam is breached and the lawsuits can flood in.
He’s also wrong the federal marriage amendement. We’ve already seen what a liberal court can do in Massachusetts. Had John Kerry won election in 2004, me may very well have seen the Supreme Court remain biased to the left.
He’s also voted on the right side of gun control issues only 19 times out of 31 in the name of federalism. This isn’t something that’s of great importance to me, but it appears to be an issue with a number of people here.
I like the idea of federalism in a number of ways, but it takes a bit of thinking as to which issues are important on a national level and why.
Blind federalism is simply impractical and counterproductive.
I agree. Both tort reform and marriage there is a good case that we need uniform laws. But if it truely leads to a smaller federal government, the pluses outweigh the minuses.