Letter to the Editor: April 2010
Editor:
I read with interest the article “Facing Off With the Feds” in your February 2010 issue. States’ rights, protected by the 10th Amendment, are quickly being eroded by an increasing avalanche of federal programs and mandates. The federal government is slowly monopolizing education, energy, health care, consumer protection, social welfare, commerce, banking and many other programs that should be dealt with at a local level.
In 2010, the federal government debt will be $14.5 TRILLION, or close to $200,000 for a family of four. Nationally, the deficit tripled to $1.42 trillion during the last fiscal year. The federal government is indebting states with borrowed money, despite the fact that most states have some form of constitutional balanced budget requirement. The federal government has now become a “super state” that micromanages programs and services which should be the states’ responsibilities.
In the Federalist Papers No. 45 James Madison said, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite.” Because they feared concentration of power, the Founding Fathers advocated for the Bill of Rights, especially the 10th Amendment, which limited the role of the federal government. Thomas Jefferson, in a 1787 letter to James Madison said, “I’m not a friend to a very energetic government; it is always oppressive.”
Senator Fred Hemmings, Hawaii
Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity
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