I wasn't talking about the recall elections.
Back in January when the people began protesting after Walker gave tax cuts to business while tearing collective bargaining.
The two are connected.........it was the issue over collective bargaining that led to the recalls. The whole idea of the president interceding speaks to the concept of federalism that has developed in this country:
Because the states were preexisting political entities, the U.S. Constitution did not need to define or explain federalism in any one section. However, it contains numerous mentions of the rights and responsibilities of state governments and state officials vis-à-vis the federal government. The federal government has certain express powers (also called enumerated powers) which are powers spelled out in the Constitution, including the right to levy taxes, declare war, and regulate interstate and foreign commerce. In addition, the Necessary and Proper Clause gives the federal government the implied power to pass any law "necessary and proper" for the execution of its express powers. Powers that the Constitution does not delegate to the federal government or forbid to the states—the reserved powers—are reserved to the people or the states. [6] The power delegated to the federal government was significantly expanded by the Supreme Court decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), amendments to the Constitution following the Civil War, and by some later amendments—as well as the overall claim of the Civil War, that the states were legally subject to the final dictates of the federal government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism#United_States
As a Con law professor, I am sure Obama knew that stepping into the WI mess would have been a violation of WI's right to manage its own affairs and the kind of federalism that has developed in this country. Presidents should step in only when federal law is violated.......and even then, its a sensitive and dangerous situation; to whit, the feds interceding into Little Rock in the late 1950s over school integration. In that situation, the Arkansas governor was violating federal law by preventing the integration of a high school in LR. What the governor was doing was unconstitutional. Even then, Eisenhower tried to reason with him before sending in troops. When all else failed, that's when he sent in the army:
en.wikipedia.org
The Constitution and State's Rights must both be protected and respected by the president. Its that respect which has helped make the governance of this nation so successful. |
