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Politics : Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York?
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To: nuke44 who wrote (934)8/11/1999 6:02:00 PM
From: chalu2   of 3389
 
This is always a difficult issue, but fear of federal power grabs proceeds from a conclusion that is intellectually troubling at times. The conclusion is: if the states do not retain certain powers, the federal government will repress the people. Is this true? Why isn't a state government just as capable of adopting terrifying and oppressive laws? Such it was during the "Jim Crow" era. Blood was shed over the rights of the States to enact the Jim Crow laws. And, quite frankly, a damned good argument can still be made that it's none of the federal government's business if Mississippi wants to have separate black and white drinking fountains, or schools, or whatever. In fact, that's the way the Constitution was interpreted in Plessy v. Ferguson . Same exact constitution was interpreted differently in Brown v. Board of Education . What changed? Public opinion? Does public opinion change the Constitution?

So these issues are not so simple folks. States have the capability--sometimes even the inclination--to enact laws that are cruel, stupid, and harmful. Maybe that's the way the sytem was set up, and if you don't like it, move to another State.

But the thinking that goes "federal bad/state good", doesn't always seem logical. There can be great federal laws and rules we all love, and horrific state laws. And vice versa. Why should we trust the states more to do "what's right?"
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