Elizabeth Ramsey

Mr. Burnham
United States Government
8 September 2014
Government Size Opinion Editorial
When the Founding Fathers signed the constitution to establish the United States
of America, they intended to form a democratic country with a reasonable division of
power between the federal government and the states. Unfortunately, the federal
government has seeped into every aspect of America, for they are taking control of issues
that the Founding Fathers would have allowed the state governments to handle. If the
state governments were to have the threshold amount of power, then each state would be
given appropriate management according to its needs and population, creating a more
harmonious country. Citizens of all states are living under different laws and unique
circumstances, for they should not have to rely on the federal government to handle their
states individual problems. Therefore, the federal government has grown too large and
power should be shifted back towards state governments.
Many examples support the idea of halting the boisterous growth of the
government. For example, President Obama signed the Healthcare and Education
Reconciliation Act in two thousand ten. Even though this event was a few years ago,
there are still unresolved healthcare issues and this act is a good example of unreasonable
federal power. Healthcare costs and needs are all different depending on the state in
which one lives. This act increased the power of the federal government, for many
regulations were forced upon states. The federal government tried to make the state

governments implement several laws that did not fit the needs of every state. Twenty-six
different states filed lawsuits in an attempt to overturn the law. Even though state
governments understand their own needs, the federal government was attempting to force
them to adapt to their healthcare laws, even if they may not suit the requirements of the
states. The federal government is assuming that a one size fits all healthcare situation
will be successful among the states.
Also, conflict often arises when the federal government withholds the power from
the state government to handle very important issues, yet the federal government fails to
enforce the laws. Even though illegal immigration seems to be the largest issue for border
states such as Texas and California, the federal government has taken control of
immigration laws. However, the federal government has failed to enforce many of these
laws, resulting in many states passing their own laws to handle immigration. Some of
these state laws even benefit illegal immigrants. The immigration reform proposals are
simply stalling in Congress, leaving states to handle immigration themselves. Instead of
waiting for Congress to provide immigration legislation, forty-five different states have
created their own laws regarding illegal immigration. The Obama U.S. Department of
Justice has even sued the state of Arizona for certain aspects of their immigration laws;
however, the states laws simply regurgitate the points of the federal laws that are not
being enforced upon the country. Regarding Arizonas immigration laws, Justice Antonin
Scalia states, The president has said that the new program is the right thing to do in
light of Congresss failure to pass the administrations proposed revision of the
immigration laws. Perhaps it is, though Arizona may not think so. But to say, as the court
does, that Arizona contradicts federal law by enforcing applications of federal

immigration law that the president declines to enforce boggles the mind. Undoubtedly,
because of all of the illegal immigrants entering the border states such as Texas and
California, these states do not have to budget to provide education for these individuals
that are not even American citizens. The federal government is just increasing the debt
because the states cannot handle supporting all of the illegal immigrants.
Because America is a representative democracy, Americans have the liberty to
elect their government authorities. However, voting fraud also continues to be a major
issue that should be handled by the state governments, yet the Obama U.S. Department of
Justice feels the need to impose on the states responsibilities. Many voting fraud issues
are occurring such as double registration, absentee voter fraud, and voting in the names of
deceased citizens. For example in James O Keefes video Project Veritas, he shows
himself going to many voting locations and being offered ballots to vote under celebrity
names without providing any identification. Also, a NAACP executive Lessadolla
Sowers was sentenced to jail after committing voting in the names of four deceased
individuals. Many governments have presented the idea of the requirement of a
government identification card to vote. South Carolina in particular wanted to provide a
government license with photo identification for voting to citizens, yet the Department of
Justice intruded and prevented the enactment of the law. Even though states are allowed
to distribute licenses for services such as driving, flying, and purchasing alcohol, the
federal government will simply not allow them to have the power to handle voting
identification even though conducting elections is technically a states responsibility.
Fortunately, even as the government continues to intervene, more states are
continuing to attempt to reject their unreasonable intrusions. Many states have filed

lawsuits on several different occasions claiming that Congress is making decisions

beyond its power. State attorneys are also successfully beginning to challenge federal
actions in an attempt to protect their state politics. However, because the inflation and
increased intrusion of the federal government has occurred over a gradual amount of
time, it is unlikely that the federal government will ever return to its intended size. Ayn
Rand, a philosopher and novelist, claims that this insane growth of the federal
government has taken at least one hundred years, therefore; it would simply take at least
that long if not longer to reverse that process, not even regarding the many issues that that
would concur in an attempt to reverse the size of the government. One goal of the
Conservative party is to hopefully decrease the federal governments involvement in state
issues and allow the country to return to its original state. A check-and-balance already
occurs between the three branches of the federal government, so the presidential power
does not overpower the legislative and judicial branches. However, I believe that this
type of situation needs to occur to between the federal and state governments. A checkand-balance would help control the powers and make the federal government realize the
unconstitutionality of its intrusions in the state governments. Thomas Jefferson states,
The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it
among the many, distributing to everyone exactly the functions he is competent to. Let
the national government be entrusted with the defense of the nation, and its foreign and
federal relations; the state governments with the civil rights, laws, police, and
administration of what concerns the state generally; the counties with the local concerns
of the counties; and each ward direct the interests within itself. It is by dividing and
subdividing these republics from the great national one down through all its

subordinations until it ends in the administration of every mans farm by himself, by

placing under everyone what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the
best. I believe that if a check-and-balance occurred to assure that these basic
responsibilities are being distributed to the correct part of the government according to
Thomas Jefferson, then the federal and state governments would function well together.
The federal government needs to understand the compromise in sharing these powers
accordingly and reasonably. Even though the states are continuing to fight for their
political rights, the inevitable and overbearing power of the federal government will
continue to lurk above the power of the state government.

Works Cited
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/07/16/state-politics-vs-the-federalgovernment/states-need-more-control-over-the-federal-government
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/conservativepolitics101/a/The-Conservative-CaseFor-Returning-Government-Power-To-The-States.htm
http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/state-laws-related-to-immigration-andimmigrants.aspx

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Democracy,_Voter_Rights,_and_Federal_Powerhttp://
www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/September/30/premium-variation-intrastateobamacaremarketplacesexchanges.aspx
http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/ushisgov/themes/government/checks.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-jr-justice-scalia-shouldresign/2012/06/27/gJQApkO06V_story.html
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2012/09/14/7_examples_that_show_voter_f
raud_is_a_huge_problem/page/full