
One Solution to the Shutdown? Give More Power to the States - SubiculumCode
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/01/17/government-shutdown-federalism-states-224018
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SubiculumCode
I think there is a bit of wisdom here. There are substantial cultural
differences across states. Thus the policies that they want vastly differ.
State law will attune itself to the wishes of its citizens. However, the more
emphasis on Federal law and programs receives in governance, the greater the
mismatch between what people want and want they get in that governance. The
stakes become that much greater and feeds political polarization, extreme
views, and a whole lot of anger. De-emphasizing (again) the power of the
Federal government could very well heal divisions, and increase the
effectiveness of government.

There are objections (e.g. 60's Civil Right Movement was helped by a Federal
Constitutional intervention), but I do not think those objections invalidate
the observation above and in the article. My bigger concern is that State
budgets are, unlike Federal budgets, much like our personal budgets: You can
borrow, but you can't print your own money; states are forbidden by the
Constitution from printing their own currencies. That flexibility in Federal
budgets using Treasury bonds gives the Federal government substantial more
flexibility to institute well-funded policies. The Federal government can give
States money, but it rarely comes without strings attached, hindering autonomy
of State governments. I feel that a solution would be to fund States directly
without restrictions on the use of those dollars.

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ohiovr
Muster the courage to veto.

