Newsline

Newsline , Society

Can We All Get Along? Yes, By Letting the States Decide.

Posted on Tuesday, October 1, 2024
|
by Outside Contributor
|
5 Comments
|
Print

At the time of this writing, the outcome of the presidential race is pretty close to being a coin flip. So what I write is not in any way influenced by who will win in November, since that is unknowable.

What is a virtual certainty is that on Nov. 6 roughly half the country will be full of joy, and the other half will be in a deep depression likely to last throughout the next four years.

Don’t be surprised if the anger and despair of the losing party spills over into prolonged violent protests — especially in the streets of the major cities. Politics in America is now — regrettably — a contact sport.

Whoever wins, America will be further ripped down its seams. Red- and blue-state America will even be more polarized. Don’t be surprised if half the country is near rebellion against the policies of either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

Patronizing speeches by the victor about being president of “all the people” and promises to “unite” will only pour salt in the wounds of the losing side. The Left will detest the Trump agenda. The Right will fight against every element of the Harris agenda. It will feel like an occupation for the 49% on the losing side.

We need to accept the unhappy reality that we are today the Disunited States of America. The U.S. is ideologically, culturally, economically more polarized than perhaps any time since the Civil War. The conservative half of the country is on Venus and the liberal half is on mars. Yes, there is a moderate/middle section — but the tails have grown more populated and influential.

We see in polls that more and more Americans don’t even want to associate with those with different political views. We are also becoming more geographically segregated — not on the basis of race or ethnicity or income but on ideology. Red states are getting redder. Blue states are getting bluer. In recent years, an estimated two million Republicans have moved out of states like New York for states like Florida, Texas and the Carolinas.

Given these realities, is there a way for us to “all get along”?

Fortunately, yes. There is a logical way to keep America “united” as one nation and to avert chaos and mayhem. Fortunately, this solution is entirely consistent with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For those who have forgotten, the 10th Amendment decrees that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government are reserved to “the states and the people.”

We need a radical return to federalism. We need to devolve powers back to the states.

We as citizens of all states are, of course, united by a common national defense, the commerce clause, which made America the largest and most prosperous free-trade zone in world history, and most importantly our inalienable rights as citizens as set forth in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. A state, for example, does not have the right to pass laws that would violate a citizen’s right to free speech or peaceful assembly, or to discriminate against citizens on the basis of skin color or gender.

But given the schisms in society, most everything else is better decided at the state — not the federal — level. Issues related to transportation, taxation, education, environment, energy and business regulation belong to the states. Americans are then able to escape from policies they view as oppressive by moving to a state that conforms with their values and lifestyle decisions.

People in Mississippi or Utah have no problem with Californians charging a 13.3% income tax rate, enacting forced union policies, providing free health care to illegal immigrants, shutting down their power plants, abolishing gas stoves or plastic bags, or providing reparation payments to aggrieved groups.

New Yorkers shouldn’t mind if Texans impose no income tax, allow people to drive 75 miles an hour down the highways or regulate how cattle are bred.

What residents in red states like Montana and South Carolina object to is New Yorkers telling them how to live their lives.

We can under this framework have Harris policies prevail in blue states and Trump policies prevail in red states, and everyone goes away happy.

No harm, no foul.

Again, the federal government is still responsible for protecting the civil liberties and “inalienable rights” of ALL residents of the United States. There would be no bringing back Jim Crow laws.

Alas, this framework is exactly the opposite of what Democrats seek. If you examine the Biden and Harris agendas, the Dems are determined to FEDERALIZE nearly all policies, which forces all Americans in every state to live under the same sets of laws and policies. They want to nationalize union policies, environmental policies, energy policies, welfare policies, taxation and so on. They want to de facto toss out the ninth and 10th amendments altogether.

This inevitably leads to the tyranny of the majority, which now and after November will be a razor-thin majority dictating policies on all Americans. This tyranny will be even greater felt if either a victorious GOP or the Democrats overturn the filibuster rule of 60 votes to muscle sweeping legislation out of the Senate.

Amazing that some 250 years ago our Founding Fathers had exactly the right vision for keeping America united in 2024 and beyond.

Stephen Moore is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is also an economic advisor to the Trump campaign. His new book, coauthored with Arthur Laffer, is “The Trump Economic Miracle.”
COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM

Share this article:
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
5 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
PaulE
PaulE
13 days ago

Sadly, once again Stephen Moore is phoning it in and NOT in a good way. Someone at Heritage Foundation needs to sit him down and truly explain to him why his simplistic solution won’t work the way he thinks it will. In really simple terms, the so-called Left and Right believe in diametrically polar opposite ideals. Which means even at the state level, you will have a constant tug of war between people who value and believe in things like free speech, safe and secure neighborhoods, property rights and personal freedoms versus people who believe in command and control over everything from speech to the overall economy and day-to-day existence. World history has shown us dozens of instances where this tug of war will continue until one side or the other either surrenders or is otherwise stamped out of existence ideologically. There is no happy medium between say capitalism and either socialism or Marxism, as much as some academics may continue to postulate there is.

We already have whole states that are dominated by one or the other ideology in practice. California, New York, Illinois and other Democrat dominated states already reflect the ideology of the Left. High taxes, high crime, unaffordable housing, unending regulations and taxes on everything are the accepted norm. Contrast that with how a number of Republican dominated states operate with generally lower taxes, less crime, more affordable housing and less regulations on everything.

Where it all conflicts is of course at the federal level. Representatives from Left and Right states have drastically different ideas on what it means to “properly govern the country” as a whole. The Left wants to impose their command-and-control, top-down dictatorial ideology on the whole country whether the people want it or not. While the Right at the federal level is basically that the federal government should interfere as little as possible. This is where what Stephen Moore is proposing all falls apart as a magic fix, because at the federal level the two distinctly polar opposites have zero compatibility to co-existence from an ideological perspective.

kit
kit
13 days ago

states decide education and abortion

David Millikan
David Millikan
12 days ago

The government cannot tell us how to live or what products we use. Their job is to stay out of our lives and keep taxes low, less government, protect our Borders, and make sure we have a Strong Military and plenty of Police including staying out of our education system by giving our States back the power of government back to us. The government does not make my decisions on how I live my life because it is my choice. Not theirs.

the US constitution; amendments, 'we the people' and a scale
death tax papers
Obama speaking about Harris
kamala harris speaking

Stay informed! Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter.

"*" indicates required fields

5
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x

Subscribe to AMAC Daily News and Games