Washington is divided Because it has Abandoned Federalism

Washington Examiner ^ | August 14, 2014 | Philip Klein

[Graewoulf]

Great article! Thanks!

However, if “ - - - power should be shifted back to the states - - - - “
then the GOP-E had better give walking papers to every RINO in Congress, starting with Boehner.

[Jacquerie]

Ethic replacement, awful schools, a populace hooked on government largess . . . it doesn't bode well at all.

[Jacquerie]

I think a return to federalism, devolution of power from DC to the states would destroy the Uniparty hold on our nation.

[x]

You didn’t read the column.

I thought I did, but just in case I read it over again.

State legislators don't want the responsibility of providing services or the blame for imposing the taxes to pay for them. It's a self-selecting process. Legislators who want power and can shoulder the responsibility want to move up to Washington. Those who want to stay where they are just want a quiet berth without any added trouble.

It's not the 17th Amendment that changed things, but the 16th. Once the federal government got the power to levy direct taxes -- and then the World Wars and withholding taxes -- it held the purse strings and the states would look to it to provide the pork. Since then, state legislators are only too willing to let the feds do the heavy lifting for them.