STATES SHOULD BE LABORATORIES

by Anonymous 1:32 PM 0 COMMENTS

If you have been reading here for a while, you know that I am a strong proponent of the 10th amendment. More often than not, I feel that the solution to any problem is for the federal government to start limiting its self to the confines of this amendment. There are several reasons why a return to the restrictions of the 10th would be beneficial. One of the foremost reasons is the competition and variety it would create.

How many of you can remember when we had one large phone company? What was the service like? What were the prices like? How fast did the technology advance? It was poor service, high rates, and few technicality advances. Then the phone company was broken up unto several smaller companies and the market was open for competition. Companies were now in compilation for customers; rates lowed, service improved, and technology exploded. If one company did something well, other companies would soon offer a similar service.

Today, instead up a super-powerful phone company, we have a super-powerful federal government. It offers us poor service, high tax rates, and a declining society. The solution is NOT to break up into several smaller countries; instead we need to give state and local governments the power that our founding fathers intended.

One of the benefits is that the states could learn from each other's successes and failures. Let us say, Nevada decides to increase restrictions and penalties for drug use; at the same time Idaho decides to legalize most street drugs. Other states could see examine what effect it had on the two states and their people.

The best example is our public schools. Nowhere in the constitution, is the federal government given permission to be involved in education. This is an area, which (until Jimmy Carter) was controlled by the states. Since the establishment of the Department of Education, the states have had less control every year. The more the federal government controls the schools the more scores drop. No longer are states and local districts given the freedom to create innovation, instead they must follow ridged federal guidelines. Instead of teaching students according to their needs, teachers are chained to curriculum.

Arizona's new law should not be challenged by the federal government. If you think it is a bad idea and will create more harm than good, let it happen. If it does fail, other states will learn from their mistake and avoid such a law. If it does work, it could be the solution to our border nightmare.

We could pick any issue from abortion, to Social Security and find a better solution through experimentation in the laboratory of the states.