Making a STATE-ment

I was fortunate the other day to hear South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson give a speech at an event at work.  His speech centered on State's rights.  I thought this was appropriate that South Carolina was championing the 10th Amendment based on their history with the Nullification Crises when they declared tariffs passed during the Andrew Jackson presidency as unconstitutional and South Carolina being the first state to secede from the Union beginning the American Civil War.  AG Wilson went on to use the analogy of the movie The Blob describe the National Government.  In the movie the blob is a small creature.  As it come in contact with anything that it devours it grows larger and larger until it is no longer containable.  This is definitely a fitting analogy.

The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to address concerns the individual states had in regards to items not specified in the Constitution.  Understandably there was much concern over having a strong centralized government.  A war was just fought against the many abuses of power experienced under English colonial rule.  The framers attempted to allay fears by promising the Bill of Rights in return for passage of the Constitution.  The 10th Amendment was passed stating "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Our government is a federal republic, meaning that we are a confederation of separate entities existing under a central government with representatives elected by us to handle our interests.  We rely on the national government to provide things like defense, trade, and minting of money.  Education, roads, and public safety are the responsibility of the states.  The problem comes when the national government has the ability to strong arm the states into complying with its wishes.  Take for example the state law of being 21 to consume and purchase alcohol.  Each state has the ability to determine alcohol consumption.  The national government attempted to force compliance to make the law 21 and over by threatening to with hold highway funds.

The national governments is not the only one to blame.  States can not argue for states rights when they are lining up with there hands out.  States are always applying for grants and handouts especially when it comes to road repair and welfare.  Military bases contribute a lot to state coffers, yet the states will not assist with education or public safety on military bases.

If we truly want state rights we need a partnership with the national government.  We can't condemn them with one hand while sticking our hand out with the other asking for money.  Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion!