The New Yorker Attacks Federalism

Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Big Government

Given the manner in which statists have seen to the systematic erosion of state sovereignty, it should come as no surprise to see a rag like The New Yorker attacking the principle of federalism. The cause for complaint this time is the allegation that those pesky states are standing in the way of recovery:

If you came up with a list of obstacles to economic recovery in this country, it would include all the usual suspects—our still weak banking system, falling house prices, overindebted consumers, cautious companies. But here are fifty culprits you might not have thought of: the states. Federalism, often described as one of the great strengths of the American system, has become a serious impediment to reversing the downturn.

The article is filled with the usual Keynesian claptrap, blaming balanced budget requirements because it means statists can’t spend like drunken sailors on the pretense that it will help economic recovery. Never mind that state budgets, in particular those run by lovers of government, are not insolvent because of the recession, which has instead simply sped up the process.

But even more importantly, federalism is apparently getting in the way of statists who want to plan our energy production from Washington:

This would involve turning the current hodgepodge of regional and state grids into a genuinely national grid, which would detect and respond to problems as they happen, giving users more information about and control over their electricity use, and so on. It could also dramatically reduce our dependence on oil. Wind power could eventually produce as much as twenty per cent of the energy that America consumes. The problem is that the places where most of that wind power can be generated tend to be a long way from the places where most of that power would be consumed. A new grid would enable us to get the power to where it’s needed. But since nobody likes power lines running through his property, building the grid would require overriding or placating the states—and the prospects of that aren’t great.

The federal government can do no wrong and should be in charge of planning everything. States should get out of the way. Got it.

Hat tip: Moonbattery

federalism political philosophy