Is it Time to Go Back to 1787?

By Thornton Crowe

With all the hyperbole this last week from truculent Mayors and Governors, telling the Trump Administration they will continue to harbor illegal aliens, perhaps it's time for us to revisit the fiscal policies of our framers.

The fact is this, our founding fathers never saw the federal government as a cash cow for states. States were always meant to be self-supporting with their own exports to the union and beyond as well as taxation from its citizens in order to fix their own infrastructures, fund their education systems and oversee their communities' indigent population. Federal level's fiscal mission was to support the military and protect Americans from enemies foreign and domestic. (Illegal Aliens by the framers' definitions fit into the enemies category as it is defined as a crime to enter the US illegally or overstay VISAs - like every other country on the planet.)

During the New Deal era, states became dependent on federal subsidiaries which allowed for their over-spending without consequence. A huge negative towards Franklin D. Roosevelt's feel-good attempt to quash the Great Depression - it actually prolonged it by a decade in the opinion of many historians. FDR began the state dependency which has continued to this day. Hence, why so many state agencies rely so heavily on federal grants that they should already have money to complete. Yet, even with this subsidiary cash flow, many state and local initiatives never get accomplished or take forever to complete - i.e. the continual construction on Route 13 near Salisbury University.

What makes mayors like Rahm Emanuel and Bill de Blasio so incredibly asinine is a couple of things (besides being looney liberals). 1) They have provided FBI Director James Comey his 'intent' by coming right out and announcing their intention to break the law and 2) states can be defunded very quickly and lack any constitutional premise to stand on. Being cut off from the federal piggy bank will no doubt cause the DTs (pun unintended) as cities like Chicago and New York are heavily addicted to the big cash flows from DC.

Contrary to their misinformed beliefs, the feds are not required to give them financial assistance - and quite frankly, assisting these large crime enclaves is very expensive. Should they cut their access to the coffers, it would allow more federal money to restore our military which is their responsibility in the first place. By cutting off these wayward money wasting states, the federal government would be in a much better financial position to defeat terrorism.

Immigration laws are on all levels of government; however, as any history scholar and Constitution attorney will tell you, federal law always usurps state and local law.  By denying to uphold federal immigration laws, these mayors (and governors) are "aiding and abetting" known criminals because all illegal aliens are committing a crime. There is no such thing as a law abiding illegal alien. It's impossible. Therefore, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles are not engaged in some David and Goliath battle of moral statements but one of a person standing on the third rail with a freight train speeding right at them. No matter how much they put their hands up to stop, it will keep on coming until impact is achieved.

Perhaps it is time that all states be cut off the federal dole as it's clear with a $20T deficit, they can't afford to keep propping up states and their misuse of taxpayer money. This experiment was never designed to work this way and our deviation from it's original framework has only brought about sloven waste, misuse and abuse on all levels - including local.

Maybe it's time for states to do what everyone expects from the citizenry: learn to live within their monetary means. There is absolutely no reason for Trump's Administration to put a Trillion Smackaroos into infrastructure when states were constitutionally responsible for their own roads, bridges and other infrastructural assets. The only exception to this would be federal oversight and repair of the interstate system, but only because of it's promotion and aids in commerce; however, that should be it!

Don't you think it's time for states to belly up to the bar and have some skin in the game rather than engage in a losing game of chicken with our Constitution?