Dark Bilious Vapors

And a good entry in the debate of the bAdministration's expansion of Federal Powers via their legislatiive efforts and the imposition of Federal Laws taking over the states turf is this one:
What Became of Federalism? by John Yoo(Law professor at UC Berkeley). The Bush White House has been favoring Federalism over the States rights for some time...despite the core principle of the supposed cornerstone of GOP-ism of less "Federalism" and "Big Government Intrusions."

"…The best of intentions may be behind these measures, but they follow a dangerous constitutional strategy. Demanding rigid, one-size-fits-all nationwide rules counteracts the benefits of federalism, which calls for decentralized governance. Federalism allows states to compete for residents and businesses. Some will choose to live in California because they are willing to trade high taxes for strong environmental rules, while others may want to live in Massachusetts because of gay marriage.

Worse, imposing national rules in these areas suppresses the ability of states to serve as "laboratories of democracy." As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis observed, "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."

Expand federal power and you retard the innovation that can answer difficult national problems.

Washington should only intervene when it's clear that a single federal rule will solve a nationwide problem that cannot be cured by individual states.

Federalism bestows a third benefit. The framers sought to create a competition between the states and Washington to prevent government from trampling on individual liberty.

Because of federalism and a separation of powers, James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, "a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments" — state and federal — "will control each other; at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."

Early in his presidency, Bush pledged to "make respect for federalism a priority in this administration," and he affirmed the founders' belief that "our freedom is best preserved when power is disbursed."

Now he should give the Supreme Court an example to follow by heeding his own words, remaining humble about the abilities of Washington to cure social problems and appointing federal judges who understand the importance of states.

Karen on 06.21.05 @ 09:26 AM CST