I have given up on the prospect that
Washington, D.C. can be reformed. Since the founding of this nation, Washington
has continued to grow at the direct expense of the people of the states. The
founding fathers were afraid of this and developed a system of checks and
balances to avoid it. Those checks and balances have failed leaving us with few
options! Because of this, I believe the best use of American’s limited
attention span toward politics and public policy is at the state level.
Consider the evidence against the
federal government:
The executive and legislative branches are: overreaching, arrogant, waste-ridden, inefficient, unresponsive
to their constituents, corrupt, controlled by special interests, obsessed with
reelection, the architects of crony capitalism, irresponsible, unaccountable, out-of-control,
and they break their own rules.
The judiciary:
rather than interpreting the Constitution, it consistently legislates from the
bench and creates constitutional rights out of thin air using their own, concocted
precedence.
The federal monetary authority (the Federal Reserve) is purposefully devaluing the dollar, causing inflation
while leading the country into bankruptcy with their manipulation of the
monetary system via perpetual zero interest rate policy and printing of dollars.
Describing the federal government as
dysfunctional is being generous.
They are willfully
negligent in the exercise of their duties!
As we look ahead to the election in
2016, can you honestly say that there will be any significant differences
between the two major political parties? Will a Hillary Clinton administration be
materially different than a Jeb Bush administration? Even if Rand Paul were to
win the presidency, we are still stuck with a corrupt and/or feckless Congress.
What’s the Solution?
The rightful remedy is for the
states to unapologetically assume the role they were granted under the
Constitution - that of a principal. The federal government is the subordinate agent of the states – NOT
THE OTHER WAY AROUND! The states created
the federal government and, presumably, the states can annul it or ignore it.
As Ron Paul recently said, we will
soon have "de facto secession." The federal government has gone too
far and the American people are slowly waking up and recognizing it. The hand
of the states has been forced. They must continue to nullify and ignore federal
laws and regulations (over 200 bills are currently in the works) and move
toward an Article V Convention of the States whereby the states bypass Congress
and pass constitutional amendments.
What kind of gullible suckers are we
to allow the federal government, which has a 100% failure rate, to dictate to
us such things as the light bulbs and health insurance we are permitted to buy.
Or the education of our children? Or our labor, environmental, drug
enforcement, and gun control laws?
This is the same federal leviathan
that runs bankrupt entitlement programs
such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid! It operates bankrupt government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac! It funnels billions of dollars to bankrupt entities such as the USPS, Amtrak, and green energy
companies! It runs the pitifully inadequate health care system at the Veteran’s Administration! It throws
billions of dollars at “Too Big to Fail” financial companies!
Are we going to continue to be at
the mercy of an incompetent and defective Federal Reserve whose track record,
even when measured against its own mandate, is woeful. Are we going to allow
them to continue to thwart efforts to open their books to a congressional
audit?
Are you comfortable with leaving
future generations holding the bag of an $18+ trillion national debt (over $100 trillion when you include
unfunded liabilities for entitlement programs)?
James Madison said the states are
“duty bound to interpose [intervene]” when the federal government goes awry. There
are two obstacles to the states assuming their constitutional power. The first
is the education and engagement of the general public. The majority of
Americans pay more attention to the air pressure in the tires on their car than
they do to politics and public policy. So we must awaken our fellow citizens
from their apathy coma.
Secondly, the states must wean
themselves off of the federal funding teat. On average, states receive 30% of
their revenue through various forms of federal funding. Once the states are
financially self-sufficient, they will no longer be susceptible to the
extortion, coercion, and blackmail that the federal government relentlessly employs
against them.
This country fought a revolution to
rid itself of a tyrannical central power that did not represent the
people. The states signed a contract (the Constitution) with the understanding
that all power not specifically delegated in the contract to the federal
government would reside with them. For over two hundred years, the pendulum has
swung in the wrong direction as the power of the federal government has grown
and that of the states has diminished.
My challenge to you is to pay close
attention to your statewide elections rather than waste your energy and
attention on the national elections. Support candidates in your state that
understand the looming economic disaster. Support those who have read and understand
the Constitution. Support those who understand states’ rights and are willing
to flip off lawmakers and bureaucrats in Washington through nullification
legislation and Convention of the States Applications. Support those that will
go to work reducing your state's dependency on federal funds by cutting the
budget, eliminating wasteful spending, and looking for opportunities to grow
the states revenue base. Maybe that
person is you?
