State's Rights!?

I never quite “got” the appeal of States Rights.

There are several embarrassing bills making their way through the Utah Legislature that are designed to “send a message to Washington” and assert our State Rights.

Our little experiment in democracy began with State's Rights, slavery and the disenfranchisement of women, and I’m of the opinion that you couldn’t have the last two without the first.

I am not a huge fan of any government but let’s face it, the worst government isn’t practiced in DC. The most awful government is practiced in our towns, cities, counties and states. It is made by part-time power-brokers who got 113 of their constituents to vote for them and garnered 97% of the vote.

State’s Rights advocates say they want to protect me from the Feds but who is going to protect me from them? Attend a School Board meeting, or a City Council Meeting, and you’ll see they are focused on the petty, the power and the money, not you and me.

The best evidence that municipal government isn’t working is traffic jams. They didn’t plan well or design correctly. They allowed unchecked growth because it meant more tax revenue.

Our schools are a local mess, beginning at that mean little local board with seats filled by your neighbors and going right on up to the State Board of Education.

If that isn’t enough to remind you that local isn’t always better, then talk to anyone in this state about renewing your Driver’s License … (admit it, you just shuddered, didn’t you!?)

We often hear about the evils of multi-level marketing but how about the evils of multi-level government? All those layers of government spend most of their time duplicating the efforts of other government entities, asserting their rights and grabbing power from one another.

For every layer there are taxes to be paid. Or transferred. You pay taxes on every layer and then the Feds give some of “their” money to States, Counties and Municipalities to do stuff, like maintain roads, provide education, pay Medicare claims or clean up the air and water.

The Feds also pay States to enforce stuff. That stuff is often the stuff States don’t want to implement but are willing to grumble and impose if it means enough money to balance their budgets.

All that means is that the State’s Right advocates who say they’d be willing to forego Federal money to have more power locally aren’t telling the whole story. Your taxes won’t get smaller and judging by the evidence, your government services will: A) Go away, B) Get worse, or C) Cost more.

Is that the message you want to send to Washington? If so, please reelect the clowns currently in the Utah State Legislature.