Federalism run amok

Ok. a brief recap of what is turning into a series on what is bugging most of us about our federal government.  We discussed how there are way too many governments in America with over 85,000 different governments.  Then, we looked at how many federal entities there are.  And again, we find there are 440 different federal entites we all pay for with our federal tax dollars from many different types of various federal taxes.  We also discussed what a problem there is when we have 50 states plus a national or federal government.

Technically, we do not have a national government.  We are supposed to have a limited and narrow federal government which is a lot different.  Our founding fathers tried to do their best to keep the federal government very, very small when they drafted the United States Constitution.  They state so explicitly in the Federalist Papers, over and over.  That plan of our founding fathers has now failed as we now have this gigantic big brother federal government invading our individual liberties.

So, what is federalism?  Originally, we had a confederation established by our founding fathers.  The 13 colonies all joined together with a document called the Articles of Confederation.  As time progressed after the Declaration of Independence, most of the states of the confederation did not  want to fund the new national government. 

So, the founding fathers had another meeting and then decided the Articles of Confederation were not working.  So, they decided to try and modify the defects of the Articles by writing the United States Constitution which was subsequently ratified.

So, instead of having a confederation with a small central government, in 1787, our founded fathers gave up on a confederation and formed a new federal government.  Now to get enough of the original 13 states to go along with this deal, this new United States Constitution, the founding fathers created a central or federal government along with each state of the union having all powers not expressly enumerated in the United States Constitution.  Hence, federalism came into existence.

Now sometimes federalism runs amok.  Sometimes, the federal government states a particular problem is the states.  And conversely sometimes the states say a problem is not theirs to fix.  And sometimes, no one takes responsibility for upholding and enforcing federal laws or statutes.

For example, take unlawful immigration.  Then, on the other hand, sometimes the federal government states some problem is a federal one and whatever the federal goverment decides to do, the states have to comply whether they want to or not. 

Take school desegregation for example.  And all that busing of kids in public schools to force integration. When the federal government tells the states what they must do, the politicians use the  the supremacy clause from the United States Constitution as their authority.

So it just depends on the political climate in Washington and across the several states.  So, back to immigration, here the federal government is failing to do anything about unlawful immigration.  So, the state of Arizona decides to do something.  The legislature of Arizona states we will deal with unlawful immigration under concurrent enforcement.  So on July 20, 2010 they will.

Now, the United States Supreme Court just docketed a case last week related to unlawful immigration. So do not be suprised to see the Supreme Court do something to block Arizona's laws related to unlawful immigration take effect.  While also noting that the President of the United States had flown to Arizona a couple of weeks again to complain to the Governor of Arizona about what Arizona wants to do.  Which Arizona merely wants to uphold and enforce federal immigration laws.  Which is the right of Arizona if one believes the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence clearly informs us if any branch of the federal government fails us, then the people of Arizona have the duty to do what the federal government refuses to do.  Federalism.  The right of the state to concurrently uphold and enforce federal immigration laws. 

The bigger question is why does the federal government not doing its job of upholding and enforcing our nation's federal immigration laws?  Does the federal government really want unlawful immigration? 

It certainly appears that is the case.  The federal government wants to only engage in selective enforcement of federal laws when it feels like it.  And when it comes to unlawful immigration, ever since Bush was President and continuing with President Obama, the feds want unlawful immigration.  Why?  Beats me. 

So why is President Obama not wanting Arizona to be able to do what the federal government has failed to do--to control unlawful immigration.  If the federal government had done their duty and controlled the borders, the people of Arizona would not have to.  However, the federal government has failed all of us.  So, by this logic, the people of Arizona and the several states have every right to use concurrent jurisdiction to uphold and enforce federal laws. 

That is how I see this situation.  The federal government refused to uphold and enforce the law.  So , Arizona and all the other states have the right to do so.  And if I were in Arizona, I would tax the cost to the federal government all expenses related to controlling unlawful immigration.  And that is why the title of this piece is federalism run amok.

 The majority of Americans want our federal laws upheld and enforced.  If the federal government cannot do the job, or refuses to do the job by omission, then the states like Arizona have every right to do so.  At least that is my take on the Declaration of Independence.  Have a great fourth of July.  Especially if you are a true blue American.  If you are here unlawfully, get out. 

Later. 

tdus.