We are the United States, Not Fifty States

In a constitutional democracy such as that in the USA,  the role of the federal government is always going to be a topic of debate. Our founders had  difficulty agreeing on the role of the federal government vs. that of state governments.


Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we have what we have, and we have to continue to work out the  conflict as we go. In the current 2012 election, the issue is: what is the role of the federal government in solving the problems that confront the country?

Rugged individualism and self-reliance are American values and go back to the earliest days of our country's founding; but are they the solutions to  the issues our country has to face? Is allowing every American to own an AK47 and a  drone missile the answer to our national security? Even the so-called "patriots" hiding out in the mountains and not paying their taxes do not believe that.  Our national security depends on all of us pooling our resources to build a federal security force. 

In spite of the current rhetoric, there are some things the federal government can do better than the states or private enterprise. Dwight D. Eisenhower's vision for an Interstate Highway System was only possible on the Federal level. And, although it was mismanaged in the case of Katrina, the best method we have to deal with disaster relief is the federal government (FEMA).

But, in this political campaign  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan  ( don't forget Paul Ryan, he is even more scary than Mitt) want to eliminate FEMA  Romney says: "We cannot afford to do those things (Federal disaster relief) without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids." His recommendation is that we transfer disaster relief to the states, and preferably to private for-profit contractors. *

Are you kidding me, Mitt? You think your profit-seeking private companies are going to keep people safe, fed, and surviving.?  I suspect they will be as successful as the private contractors George W. Bush and Dick Cheney sent into Iraq.

And at one point, Mitt suggesting eliminating FEMA and giving the money to the states to deal with their own disasters. Please explain how that will work. Can Mitt  predict in which states the disasters are going to occur?  Would he have allocated enough to New Jersey and New York to cover the costs of Sandy?  Would he give the same amount to Utah as Missouri?

Face it; there are some things the Federal government can do better. We are the UNITED STATES, and we provide assistance to our fellow citizens who are in need.  We need unity, not division.

We cannot allow Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to divide us,

*Of course, as he has done on almost every issue, Romney  after trying to avoid the topic during Hurricane Sandy, is now backtracking.