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Saturday, November 21, 2009

States Rights

People are just plain disagreeable. Well, gee, thanks, Mr. Obvious.

There has always been some talk about States Rights, about how the States should have more power and the Federal Government should have less. That always seemed like a good idea to me, and I wondered why it wasn't that way. Eventually I figured it out. Working in government, trying to get decisions made, bills passed, laws enacted, is a tedious, unpleasant business. Most people won't bother unless the stakes are high enough, and the stakes are much higher in the Federal Government than in the State Governments. Our State Government (Oregon) is a prime example. We have more obstructions mired in the 19th century than we have people who are willing to step up and take care of business. So they spend years quibbling while the whole state is crumbling around our ears, and people quit paying attention to them and start looking to the Federal Government to get things done. Gripe about the Feds all you want, they do manage to get things done. They might not be the things you want done, but by God, things are gonna happen.

P.S. Spell checker complained about the th in 19th, but it let gonna go. Huh.

1 comment:

Rocky Humbert said...

In Texas, the State legislature is limited to meeting 140 days per year....and called sessions are limited to 30 days. See: http://www.house.state.tx.us/resources/faq2.htm

I'd humbly suggest that less is more....