When the United States of America was founded, those colonies that entered the federation were decidedly not of the opinion that the contract they had signed was irreversible. The civil war decidedly disabused the states of that notion. Since that time, the power of the central government has taken upward leaps in the extent and power of its dominion. The New Deal was followed by the Second World War, each event bringing new power and wealth to Washington. I do not mean to cast aspersions on anyone involved in either bringing the New Deal into existence or in fighting the war. I simply recite as a matter of fact that the Federal Government now reaches more pervasively into the lives of Americans and people around the world than could ever be conceived by our forebears. Those who voice concern at the overweening power of this government are often Libertarians or small government Republicans, but I wonder if it is not time to consider whether Democrats should ask themselves whether the very size and power of the Federal Government has itself become a threat to peace and liberty.
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Regionalism is an alternative philosophy that envisages an active devolution of centralized power to states or groups of states in the belief that governmental power that is closer to the people is likely to be better administered. There are 50 states; not all are big enough to be regions in their own right. The states of New England – Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut – form the region of New England. California, on the other hand, is a region in itself. Geographically, the country can be divided into about 10 such regions with similar cultures and beliefs. It is to those regions that we Democrats should be looking in order to strengthen our democratic institutions and thereby restrain the dangerous accumulation of power in Washington. Were we to embark on such a project, we would be promoting a great rebirth of American society, a truly federal system that does not attempt to rule so much as to represent. The structure of the Congress is patently unfair to large states in Senate representation. Far too much power is given to smaller states. But this only serves to underline how the founding fathers envisaged the Federation, not as a subservient relation of states to a central authority but as a compact of equals. The relationship has now become so unequal that action must be taken, not break up the Union but to re-establish it.
So what kind of changes might one envisage that could re-establish a more equitable relationship between the Federal authorities and the various regions that comprise these United States? One possibility might be to establish regional authorities that help states or groups of states plan infrastructure improvements and disaster response. Instead of making block grants to individual states and maintaining a monolithic Homeland Security Department, these regional bodies could disperse funds more logically and fairly, especially since the regional bodies would each represent 30-40 million people. As time went by, these bodies would acquire more power at the expense of the Federal Government (a good thing) and dilute the power of individual Senators, members of the least democratic institution in America.
In a larger sense, there is a great need for a thorough renovation of American Institutions at every level. Americans have a remarkable ability to assume that the way things are is the way they ought to stay. They have an equal inability to learn from other countries. There needs to be a broad adoption of best practices around the world. There are three big things that should take precedence within the US government now, beyond what I have suggested in terms of devolution of power.
First, unify the armed forces into the United States Defense Force. This would eliminate rivalry, poor coordination, cost duplication, etc. The Pentagon has been moving in this direction anyway, but it should be accelerated.
Second, split the FDA into Drug Safety Agency and a Food Safety Agency. Merge the CDC into Drug Safety, and merge the food safety parts of the USDA into the Food Safety Agency. Take the remaining commercial parts of USDA and merge it into the Department of Commerce. The elimination of a USDA would eliminate one of the biggest and most wasteful conflicts of interest in American government.
Third, start working on a regional infrastructure plan. For example, the sewers and drainage systems of the USA need an estimated $300 billion worth of repairs. The power grid is dangerously vulnerable to catastrophic failure, and is incredibly wasteful in any case. Regional transportation is also under-funded enormously. There are so many desperate needs that we need elaboration of a 5-year, 10-year, 20-year, and 50-year set of plans. Democrats must be the agents of a major renovation and renewal that needs to get back on track. Bill Clinton put us on that track with the huge surplus that Bush wrecked. We have to get back on that track for the good of all of us in every part of the Federation of American States.