The federal government takes money from the citizens of each state, then demands each state bow to their commands in order to get a percentage of those taxes back. The income tax was the tool by which government grew to such bounds.
If we took the same number of dollars from every citizen and paid them into the state and let the state legislators solve the problems of the state, there would more solutions to problems. Were I governor I would decree that all business pay their federal taxes into the state and then I would pay the feds what they need to live up to their obligation under the constitution - 1/50th of the defense and state budgets (or the percentage based on my population). The other dollars would only be sent in if the people of my state (by a majority vote in the legislator) thought the feds could do something that we could not do ourselves.
Instead of nation-wide problems, we would have 50 states each with their own problems - but those tasked with solving the problem would be a few hundred miles away at most and within the grasp of the people on election day.
This is what the founders wanted - local people solving local problems. When you nationalize a problem, you make it bigger than it is and you make the solution 100x more expensive - because you have to fix it for 50 uniquely different states - even in states where it’s not a problem. And that takes money away from the real problems in those states.
Dry up the federal dollars and give the same amount to the states and we’d have way more success in solving problems.
Would give a whole new meaning to “localism.”