There
is hope yet for federalism
*
12 November 2004 - Palm Springs Desert Sun
In
1964 Barry Goldwater said, "Remember that a government big enough
to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away
everything you have." Now that Republicans have retained the executive
branch and increased its control of both houses of Congress, perhaps
Democrats – who for a century have worked to centralize government
power at the federal level - are finally catching on to what he
meant.
There is talk among Democrats about the possibility of the two clusters
of states that went for John Kerry (the Northeast and the West Coast)
seceding from the United States. Many conservatives are amused at
this, but for some it is reason for hope.
I for one am encouraged by the Democratic Party’s re-evaluation
of the states’ rights position that is their nineteenth-century
heritage. Perhaps, if limited-government believers can keep the
GOP on task, the two parties can finally agree on something: that
a return to federalism and a Constitutionally-limited national government
(beholden to the states rather than their master) is a good thing
for all Americans.
* The Palm Springs Desert Sun has since
changed their file structure, rendering the saved URLs of my printed
letters obsolete
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