Old Hippie

I am sad for our States. We are not America. We are the United States of America. There is a difference. And it is a difference that we seem to have forgotten or lost interest in through the years. I think this difference is being highlighted these days by the European Union. Or rather by the increasing "no" votes for the adoption of the proposed European Union Constitution.

France recently rejected the ridiculously complex constitution because, among other reasons probably, they are afraid they will lose their sovereignty or their national identity if this document becomes European Law. They have a valid concern. The Dutch yesterday rejected it for similar reasons by an even greater margin than the French. I say good for them. And it pains me a little to congratulate the French for anything.

In this country we had a similar occurence happen in 1913 but with different results; the ratification and adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. Don't know what this amendment was for? This is the one that changed the way United States Senators are chosen. Previously, as described in Article 1, Section 3 "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote." Originally the Senate was the body of Congress that represented individual states' interests while the House of Representatives was the body that represented individual interests from the local level. Pair the two and you have a functioning, workable Congress that will balance the needs of the states with the needs of the citizens.

Changing the selection of Senators to a vote by the people took away the representation of the states' interests. This weakened the powers of the states and left them with little voice in federal matters. Senators no longer represented the will of the states but the will of the people. Most foreign countries have more representation with our federal government through ambassadors than do our own "sovereign" states. Our individual states in this country no longer have even that. This is not how the states were supposed to be treated in our original constitution. States were supposed to be the primary governing force, not the central government. We have stripped them of their power and given it all to the feds.

Each state, being sovereign, maintains its' rights to enact laws that are different than other states. This is still so, but the power of the federal government can force states to change or create laws that conform to the feds wishes by withholding money from any state that doesn't comply. Remember the National 55 mph speed limits enacted in the 1970s? Every state had to comply with the federal order or it would lose federal highway funding. The feds held the state money for ransom. This is NOT how it is supposed to work. They can do the same thing with education or any funds that flow through Washington. The states lost their sovereignty and the feds don't care. The people don't care!

The other amendment, number 16, ratified also in 1913 coupled with this one provided the federal government with even more power. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." Notice how the phrase explicity omits the states from receiving any of the revenue. Another assault on states' rights and this one gave the feds a revenue source to work with. A bonanza! A huge pie that didn't have to be cut in any particluar manner.

Our Founding Fathers took great care in fashioning our Constitution and wording things in such ways as to reduce ambuguity. Their initial plan was not to create a supreme, all-powerful central government. Their plan was to connect the powers of the sovereign states together in a joint partnership to form a more perfect union and to protect the rights of every individual and every state.

The current European Constitution writers took far less care in crafting their document in such a manner. Instead they sought to address all sorts of trivial issues instead of painting with broad, general strokes. They sought to form a stronger union of countries to compete in world markets and decided that centralization was best, that the powers of the individual countries are less important than the powers of the EU. And this fact is scaring the European voters. I'm so glad it does. It should. I wish more Americans would be afraid of our federal government in the same way.

Just look at the name of our country. It is not "America". It is the "United States of America". Always has been. But since 1913 it just doesn't mean quite the same thing. And the States portion means less and less as each year goes by. Washington DC has become America and the hell with the states.

And I don't like it one bit!

An observation by OH.