[antimedia] antimedia: Some of my readers may wonder why....

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Posted by antimedia:
Some of my readers may wonder why....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1186793127.shtml


   ....I jumped on the Fred Thompson bandwagon so quickly. The truth is,
   it wasn't quick, but it was based on [1]this kind of thinking.

     The Framers drew their design for our Constitution from a basic
     understanding of human nature. From the wisdom of the ages and from
     fresh experience, they understood the better angels of our nature,
     and the less admirable qualities of human beings entrusted with
     power.
     The Framers believed in free markets, rights of property and the
     rule of law, and they set these principles firmly in the
     Constitution. Above all, the Framers enshrined in our founding
     documents, and left to our care, the principle that rights come
     from our Creator and not from our government.
     We developed institutions that allowed these principles to take
     root and flourish: a government of limited powers derived from, and
     assigned to, first the people, then the states, and finally the
     national government. A government strong enough to protect us and
     do its job competently, but modest and humane enough to let the
     people govern themselves. Centralized government is not the
     solution to all of our problems and â with too much power â such
     centralization has a way of compounding our problems. This was
     among the great insights of 1787, and it is just as vital in 2007.

   Can you name one other politician who thinks like this? Writes like
   this?
   Thompson has hit on the crux of what is wrong with America today.
   Government is far too centralized. The more centralized government is,
   the less freedom the individual has. As frustrating as your town
   council may be, you still have the power to make a difference. You
   have much less power to do so at the federal level.

     Back in my days in the Senate, I found myself on the short end of a
     couple of 99 to 1 votes. They involved issues that had been under
     the purview of states for over 200 years. I asked why we should
     federalize what rightly were state and local issues.
     Iâve been saying it for years, and it bears repeating: what works
     in Tennessee may not work in Nebraska and may be different from
     what succeeds in Oregon. Thatâs why President Ronald Reagan
     compared federalism to letting a thousand sparks of genius in the
     states and communities around this country catch fire. Itâs not a
     perfect system, but it works a lot better than the alternative of
     central planning.
     We need to allow local authorities to apply their own good ideas
     and use their own good judgment. Each state can find its own way,
     learning from the successes and failures of the others. There is a
     wealth of creativity and initiative out there in the states, and
     often the best ideas in Washington started out as state
     initiatives.
     A good example of this early in my Senate service was welfare
     reform. We were warned that terrible things would happen if we went
     forward with a bill â a fundamental commitment would be abandoned
     and, among state governments, a ârace to the bottomâ would begin.
     But key to our approach were elements of welfare reform that had
     proved successful in various states, such as Colorado, Michigan and
     Wisconsin. The result was a law that allowed us to better meet our
     commitments to our fellow citizens. It was one of the great
     political successes of the 1990âs, because Washington â for once â
     had the good sense to learn from state and local authorities and
     empower them in return.
     When you hold firm to the principles of federalism, thereâs another
     advantage: our federal government can better carry out its own
     defining responsibilities â above all else, the security of our
     nation and the safety of our citizens. Sometimes I think that our
     leaders in Washington try to do so many things, in so many areas,
     that they lose sight of their basic responsibilities.

   At the heart of centralized government is an innate distrust of the
   individual. You can read it in the arguments of our founding fathers.
   Those who argued for a strong central government did not trust the
   "wild passions" of democracy. They felt they knew better than the
   "common" man what was right for America.
   Thompson believes what I believe. Government belongs to the people and
   should never be trusted to elites in Washington. As President, he
   could do a lot to return us to an America that honors the individual
   rights of men and women.
   Tags: [2]President [3]Fred Thompson [4]federalism [5]election

References

   1. http://www.imwithfred.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=Federalism
   2. http://technorati.com/tag/President
   3. http://technorati.com/tag/Fred%20Thompson
   4. http://technorati.com/tag/federalism
   5. http://technorati.com/tag/election