GOP leaders have been abandoning their party's commitment to federalism in favor of further centralizing Washington's authority over the states. "States' rights," of course, has a dubious legacy and liberals love to associate the idea with discriminatory Jim Crow laws in the South. But the concept that the states are better suited than Washington to understand and respond to local needs has always been fundamental to our democratic republic.
The newest wrinkle is that even Republicans who champion local
autonomy are abandoning the idea in order to support a
constitutional amendment to prohibit states from recognizing gay
marriage. The AP quotes IGF contributing author David Boaz on the
Republicans'
waning enthusiasm for allowing states to act as laboratories of
democracy:
Traditionally the champions of small government and states' rights, President Bush and his allies in Congress have aggressively pursued policies that expand the powers of Washington in the schoolroom, the courthouse, the home and the doctor's office. "
David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, which advocates limited government and individual liberties, said there are inevitable tensions when conservatives try to use federal power to override the actions of more liberal state governments. "
Cato's Boaz said the next big fight will be over GOP attempts to stop state moves to sanction gay marriages. "Some conservatives are saying we need one national policy, but that would be an unprecedented federal intrusion into marriage law that has always been controlled by the states,'' he said.
Of course, the Democrats support granting more power to
Washington over virtually all policy matters, and thus are ill
equipped to argue the federalism case when it comes to gay
marriage.
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