I am fascinated by the number of protests in the country. I
find the parallels to the Tea Party protests in ’09 striking and compelling.
Yet, while I feel that many of the protesters are bought and paid for, I am
sure some of it is people being actually upset with Trump’s 4 weeks in office.
At least with Obama we got to wait 3 years before someone mentioned impeachment
– yet now a major contender for the DNC chairmanship was talking impeachment in
the first week!
Yet, at the source, I think that the issue is more than just
that the country is divided, that Washington is gridlocked, or that there is
too many corrupt or bought out people. I believe the issue, at its source, is
that too many decisions and policies are decided in Washington.
You see, the 10th amendment was designed to keep
the Federal Government from getting too big. Yet, it has never really been
invoked. Yet, there is nothing in the Constitution about most of the major issues
facing the country. There is nothing in the Constitution about marriage (ever
get a Federal Marriage certificate?), education, abortion, crop regulations,
Federal regulations of state lands, etc. Yet, all these issues, have become
very divisive Federal issues.
The real solution to these issues is to discuss them at a
state level. The reason people are so upset now, just like in ’09, is that they
feel that they don’t have a voice. Which, in a country of 325 million people,
if even 25% of the people are outraged, that would still be over 75 million
people that are very upset!
So, instead of trying to find common ground on Capitol Hill,
perhaps we could find common ground on a smaller Federal Government!
