After decades of broken promises, many Americans have realized that whichever party is in office, the more power held by federal officials, the less control the people have over their own lives, and the more arrogant and dangerous those far off federal officials will become. The only way to keep the government accountable, to keep its size and power where they cannot be easily abused, is to keep government close to home.
Yet over the century and a half since Lincoln settled the Confederacy question, an ongoing and unrestrained power grab by the federal government has led to the assumption that its mandate is unlimited. State obsequiousness to central authority in exchange for federal tax dollars has helped fuel that delusion, and resulted in significant loss of individual freedom over the years; but the true scope of federal arrogance has been on display only since last fall. That was when the executive branch via President Bush began nationalizing huge swaths of private industry despite an utter lack of constitutional authority to do so.
But even though more resources and power than ever are flowing into Washington, D.C., one day students of our history may look back on the early part of the Obama administration and see not a new authoritarian foundation, but rather the pinnacle of an unsustainably centralized power structure. Already, public attitudes toward the new president are shifting from cautious optimism about his professed faith in the American dream to incredulous horror at his continued and worsening abuse of federal power.
That’s because, contrary to popular belief, the American people are not fools. They love liberty and can clearly see the dead hand of government as it grasps further than ever into their lives and wallets. The last six months have exposed a vacuum in the political marketplace and rancorous town hall meetings over health care “reform” are just the beginning.
While members of Congress tell themselves that opposition to their statist agenda is motivated by ignorance or special interest cash, it is actually America’s Anti-Federalist heritage re-emerging in front of their eyes. Millions of Americans have grown so disillusioned by the tyrannical similarities between Republicans and Democrats in Congress (and in the presidency) that they are now raising serious questions about the fundamental virtues of federal versus state power. And while proponents of state sovereignty may not be able to stop a president and his supermajority on health care or cap and trade, their movement is preparing for the start of a major upheaval in 2010.
And what's coming won’t be your daddy’s Revolution.
Even now, the rumblings have begun. Look no further than the stands taken this past spring by Rick Perry in Texas and Mark Sanford in South Carolina over taxes and unfunded mandates tied to federal stimulus money. Or the sovereignty resolutions that have now passed in many states. These are not isolated coincidences. During next year’s elections (and beyond) many candidates will argue that the time has come to stop subverting state interests to self-serving diktats of the federal government, or risk losing autonomy altogether.
And some of those candidates, mostly at the state level, will win. In the process, Anti-Federalism as an issue will regain its rightful prominence in our national political dialogue. Millions of Americans who currently feel shut out, disregarded, and unrepresented in national politics will demand their state representatives stop dreaming of an office on Capitol Hill and start bringing power and control back home where it belongs.
The key to success for this new generation of Anti-Federalists will be the countless small government groups that have sprouted like weeds all over the country in the past six months. If they turn their formidable energy and principled fiscal conservatism to state politics, the pressure on those governments to reduce tax and regulatory burdens will be enormous. The representatives will have to respond, or risk being run out of office.
Eventually, to keep their jobs, they will fight for those same demands on behalf of their constituents at the national level; defending individual freedom against a power hungry federal oligarchy, just as the Constitution intended.
A version of this article was originally published at The D.C. Writeup.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Comments
What a load of neoconfederate claptrap.
John,
To clarify, was it the Constitution you were referring to as "claptrap" or just my call for a defense of it?
Your call for a defense of it sounds a lot like John C. Calhoun's.
John,
Since I am clearly advocating the opposite of slavery by pushing for a return to more state and individual autonomy, through less federal monopolization of resources and restriction of freedoms, I don't believe your comparison is valid.
I understand the sensitive history of states' rights in this country, but I do not think it reflects intellectual honesty to simply cry "racist" or "neoconfederate" every time someone calls for less centralized control. And I think that card is wearing extremely thin with the American public, too.
Here's what's intellectually dishonest: "Yet over the century and a half since Lincoln settled the Confederacy question, an ongoing and unrestrained power grab by the federal government has led to the assumption that its mandate is unlimited." There is no such assumption. There is an extensive supreme court case history and legislative record on federalism that makes a mockery of such cartoonish statements. Never mind your red herring of slavery: do you believe in nullification?
John,
There is no such assumption? For just one example I would point you to the current expansive interpretation of the interstate commerce clause that claims the federal government has jurisdiction over wheat a man grows on his own land for his own family's consumption. Where exactly does that federal mandate end?
Maybe what you meant to say is that the Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is. In that case, you are entitled to your opinion, but I happen to believe that words have meaning.
And nullification? Give me a break. It's your loaded terms and cheap historical potshots that are the red herrings here. You just keep dodging the fundamental issue that over-reliance on federal authority has put the country on an unsustainable path, and I'll just keep talking about how we can fix it.
Powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or to the people. This way, if you dont like the way things are done, you can move to another state and still enjoy the constitution. With federal power, we are forced into things that we cant escape except for leaving the country, this is my country too and im not leaving, but I do want to be left alone by the federal government, they have no business making the decisions that they have been for me. They have a clear scope of work, and should be restrained by it. We need to get back to the roots of the constitution and our founders intent and rebuild from there. There should also be a death penalty for violating the constitution and intent, that would make sure we dont get the weasels in that we have. Everytime they violate the constitution and bill of rights, people shrug, that is why they get away with what they do.
Josh is correct. Read the 9th and 10th Amendments. Our federal gov't has been so drunk with power that the states must step up to the plate and let their voices be heard. Read about the "Principles of '98". The Supreme Court has wildly mis-interpreted the interstate commerce clause as it was originally intended as well as the federal tax code's scope.
Read some history you'll find how far we've slipped from how we were founded. It's truly sad that we've slipped this far into a more of a direct democracy instead of a dual sovereignty between the feds and the states. We are not a democracy. We are a Republic.
I can't encourage enough people to read history... especially about the early 20th century progressives.
John,
YOU ARE A FREAKN IDIOT!!
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