Where we’re going wrong
Published Wed, Nov 18 2009 5:41 PM
Technorati Tags: Elections, Politics, Federalism, States Rights
I just responded to a comment left by Debbie on my previous post. Thinking about it for a moment, I’ve come to realize that all of the attention I’ve been putting on our founding documents and that we put on national politics isn’t enough, so I’ve decided to reproduce that comment here.
I think when we focus on national politics we've turned the cart upside down. Yes, I've been writing about our federal government and our Constitution at the federal level, but that's because its something we all are at least somewhat familiar with. It also points out how far from what the founders envisioned our government has strayed.
Yes, it does seem that individual citizens have little power these days. When you consider that law abiding citizens only have one vote, and there are hundreds of millions of adults of voting age in the country it should be clear that the national stage is where we have our least influence. As a voter we can have the greatest effect in local elections, and our influence is greater in state elections than national ones.
The states also appear to have very little power these days it is true. Part of the reason for this is the constant focus by the media on “national” issues and the raising of what should be local issues to national status. This I believe is primarily because the media seeks a national audience.
Another cause for the limited power of the states relative to the power of the federal government is the unwillingness of politicians to take responsibility for their actions before their constituents. States have looked to the federal government to solve their problems for them rather than doing the hard work of solving issues of governance at the state level. A part of this is the “pork” mentality of Senators “bringing home the federal bacon” and a part of it is laziness.
The seventeenth amendment wasn't proposed and ratified because the state legislatures were doing their jobs well after all. Before the seventeenth amendment was ratified, Senators were chosen by state legislatures - not by popular election. The amendment was proposed in part because state legislatures were doing a poor job of selecting Senators - with some states going without adequate representation in the Senate. It was ratified because it was a populist notion. Ultimately this was yet another symptom of the decline of the states responsibility for governing themselves and the people.
We are starting to see a resurgence in state level interest in the tenth amendment again. In my opinion this is a good thing, and the right direction for our governments to move. The effort will die an early death though if we don't adjust our focus as voters.
I believe that since the individual has the most influence in local elections that it is our responsibility to exercise that influence in local elections - and do so wisely. We must choose candidates that believe in the rule of law, and in the Constitutions of our states and who will work to see that our local governments adhere to them. We must do this BEFORE the party machine gets its picks on the ballot, so that our candidates get on the ballot. If we wait until the party's choice or the incumbent is actually on the ballot, there's no way we can “clean house” of RINOs or other vermin.
We've got to get the same focus at state level politics. We want people that will uphold the state constitution - and that will act in the interest of liberty and prosperity. Here too we want candidates that understand and will uphold the federal constitution, in particular the tenth amendment. These candidates must be willing to demand and stand up for the rights of the states - because no federal level politician will willingly give up the power that the federal government has acquired.
Finally at the national level, we've really got to stop focusing on the President. Sure, the election of the President is the one election where all of the electorate gets a say, but really he has far less power than a Representative or a Senator does. The President may appear to set an agenda for Congress but Congress does as it pleases. The President may propose a budget or a piece of legislation but Congress actually writes, debates, and votes on what actually gets passed into law. The President may be able to veto a bad law but this happens seldom and Congress still has the power to override that veto.
Focusing on the President is a distraction from where the real solutions to our national problems lie. Instead, we've got to remember that we can't win without winning at the ballot box, and we've got to choose the most meaningful battles to win.
Remember, the best place to get the right people into office is to get the right people on the ballot in the first place. To all of you conservatives that voted for Sarah Palin - remember, the reason she was able to energize us was because of the weak choice the party made by selecting John McCain in the primaries. If your district is represented by a RINO and you don’t like it – fix the problem – get rid of the RINO in the primaries and put up a real candidate.
Trackback URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/track.aspx?postid=1396
Permalink URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/2009/11/18/1396.aspx
Subscribe to this entry's
comment feed. (Atom)
Debbie responded with:
 | You are absolutely correct. In recent elections we have allowed the candidates to be picked from the top by the machine. They are already trying to do that for 2012, with the re-runs from the last election.
One problem with the states is money. They are so dependent on the money from Washington they can't or won't make decisions themselves. They have almost become little Washingtons. It's hard to be independent when you wallow at the trough and depend on that money for survival. |
Angel responded with:
 | we can't win without winning at the ballot box, and we've got to choose the most meaningful battles to win...quite true..I listened to S palin's interviews..outstanding!:) |
David responded with:
 | Excellent, and something I keep needing to remind myself. My Wonder Woman has taught me a lot about being on top of local and state issues by her involvement in her teachers' association. (The MSTA is quite a large bit different to the NEA and other organizations of the like in the way it operates NOT as a union but simply as a teacher resource and as an organization that works WITH legislators and local school boards rather than in opposition to them to address teachers' concerns. At least that's been what I've seen over the past couple of decades.) As a result of her involvement at the local level, she corresponds regularly with state representatives on many issues, and meets with them from time to time to discuss loacl concerns.
Developing local involvement in local and state issues--selecting of candidates, building platforms, bringing up and addressing issues--really ought to take precedence over national concerns... except where the "feddle gummint" is sticking its nose in where it does not belong. Then that national issue IS a local issue.
My Wonder Woman just enrolled to pursue another masters degree, so her political involvement activities will take a hit over the next year, so I guess I'll need to step mine up... ;-) |
Comments to this entry are closed.