Here’s a simple truth: you will never solve America’s problems by plugging new people into the system in Washington D.C. The system in Washington D.C. is the problem. The solution is at the state level.
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 its 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. It is willfully negligent in the exercise of its 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? The federal government grows regardless of which party controls Congress or the White House.
What’s the Solution?
The rightful remedy is for the states to unapologetically assume their proper role under the Constitution – that of a principal. The federal government is the subordinate agent of the states. The states created the federal government and, presumably, the states can annul it or ignore it.
As Ron Paul 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.
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 it 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 $20+ 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. Support those who 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.
His books are available at www.amazon.com/author/shawnbrodof
His business coaching practice is www.Clarity-Coaching.biz
- Washington D.C. is Beyond Reform; Focus on Your State - July 21, 2016