I'm a Nationalist down to my toe nails.
I love this country and believe in it. I don't believe in Big Government and think the States should have power. Not the Fed.
Do Republicans still believe in states' rights? Sessions's marijuana policy is ultimate test
When Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a key Obama-era marijuana policy on Thursday, giving federal prosecutors leeway to go after marijuana violations in states where the drug is legal, he opened up a fiery debate on whether the Republican Party still stands by one of its core planks: states’ rights.
Conservative politicians love to celebrate states' rights, using a rhetorical commitment to local control as an excuse for blocking progressive policies. Standing behind the idea that states should have the final say has become an almost rote response of Republican members of Congress when they are pressed on social issues.
Conservatives emphasized on states' rights when it came to slavery and Jim Crow, and they continue to do so with regard to hot button issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and separation of church and state.
For many Americans, the states' rights argument is attractive, even though (or, sadly, perhaps because) cries to respect states' rights historically were used to defend state practices that discriminated against minorities.
No wonder politicians of both parties love to beat up on Washington, D.C. and attack the federal bureaucracy. State governments may be no better, no more efficient, and no less corrupt, but for many people the federal government is “external” or “other” in a way that their local governments and local politicians are not.
But however often conservatives drag out the 10th Amendment, there is no hiding
the hypocrisy of these arguments in light of the ways in which Republicans are eager to impose federal requirements on states when doing so aligns with their politics.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced recently that it would no longer accept state applications for waiver of welfare work requirements.
What makes this policy reversal remarkable is that it flies in the face of conservative rhetoric that local approaches and solutions are best, especially when it comes to tackling poverty. Under this new policy, even if a state determines that educational and training programs would benefit the poor in the state more than the adoption of a work-first approach, the Trump administration will block the states' decision.
So tell me. What specific issues do you wish your state had more power over? Because I have a feeling if the GOP didn't like that policy of yours, they'd let the federal government trump their states rights bullshit.