Thwarting GOP Governors

For John, BLUF:  In what looks like another attempt to erase the concept of Federalism the Biden Administration Department of Education is suing several states over prohibition of mask mandates.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden administration opens civil rights investigations over bans on school mask mandates

From The Wash Post, by Reporter Laura Meckler, 30 August 2021, 1:17 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

The Education Department opened civil rights investigations Monday into five states for policies banning school districts from requiring masks, upping the Biden administration’s battle with Republican governors over pandemic policies for schools.

The letters were sent to officials in Iowa, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma and Tennessee, all of which bar local districts from mandating masks.  The letters allege that these states may be preventing districts from meeting the needs of students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness should they contract the coronavirus.

The move follows up on President Biden’s promise earlier this month that the Education Department would use its authority to try to stop states from interfering with school districts that want to require masks.  Governors argue that masking should be a personal choice for parents and families, and over the last few weeks, the disputes have reflected the larger national pandemic debate over personal freedom vs. public health.

Does this qualify as Lawfare?  Could meet the definition.  And it makes the Administration look petty.

This effort seems to turn the terms personal freedom and public health on their head.  It is further complicated by rumors of the CDC being about to announce the end of mask mandate recommendations, the findings that most common masks are 10% effective and the recent finding that plexiglass barriers, the ones we see at service counters, may actually make things worse.

Is this really about Social Control?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Is In Charge Here?

For John, BLUF:  Coronavirus is causing more people to give voice to their concerns.  This is an OpEd from a new on-line publication, Done.♠  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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OpEd:  Why is a Social Worker Dictating COVID-19 Policy for the Country’s Largest County?

From Done, an OpEd, 16 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus seven:

Los Angeles County is, by a wide margin, the most populous county in the United States.  At an estimated 10 million, its population is larger than all but seven states and over a hundred countries.  In fact, LA County has nearly the same number of inhabitants as, dare I say it, Sweden.  Yes, that neo-Nazi, baby-killing, fascist, herd immunity gathering, bastion of pure evil Sweden (sarcasm intended).  Not only is LA County full of people, it is also full of money, having nearly the same GDP as Saudi Arabia.

A county with that population and wealth should have an army of world class scientists leading the battle in the fight against COVID-19.  Let’s take a look at who is leading this world class team.

Dr. Barbara FerrerOur LA County Public Health Commissioner is Dr. Barbara Ferrer.  You can find her bio here.

Impressive, right? Well, look a little closer.  She must have graduated from a top-tier medical school, or so one would think…

Now is when I usually get the “OMG” response, even from the most liberal of liberals.

To be clear she is not even a medical doctor. She has a Doctorate in “Social Welfare.”  So essentially, we have a high-powered social worker (albeit one of the most well-known in the country) leading the largest county in the United States in the fight of our lives against this biological threat.

Yes, this is the real-life version of “I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV.”

Instead of looking at science and data and adapting her public health response to attack what we now know are the strengths and weaknesses of this virus, she is essentially behaving like an elementary school principal (probably because she was one).  Exerting her new-found unchallengeable and unelected power over an entire population that she views as children.  She tells us what to do, how to do it, and even threatens to take away our few remaining freedoms, if we misbehave.

As President Obama recently said:

More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.

I think the assumption was that that was a swipe at President Trump.  I think the jibe really applies at the coal face, where things are done in our Federal System.

I suspect there are underlying cultural problems that increase the spread of coronavirus in LA.  For example the homeless problem.  How do we fix these underlying problems?  For example, the overall health of the homeless puts them about ten years older than the physical age.  This is a favor in COVID-19 deaths.  Social distancing is harder in a homeless environment.  What about hand washing?  Likely less.

And, the solutions are not just based in building things.  There is the needed changes in social mores.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  "Launched on Earth Day 2020, in the midst of the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Done.com celebrates the heroes and calls out the villains amongst companies, business leaders, athletes & celebrities, politicians and everyday people.  We aim to shine the bright lights of transparency on brands, organizations and people, and commend them or hold them accountable for what they have, or haven't 'done.'"

Local Responsibility

For John, BLUF:  We have federalism, to split up governmental power.  But, to work everyone must be willing to take responsibility for area.  Federalism means local folks taking responsibility.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New York Health Commissioner Tells People Not To Follow White House Coronavirus Guidance

From The Daily Caller, Correspondent Anders Hagstrom, 25 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

A New York’s health commissioner contradicted coronavirus guidance from the White House on Wendesday, telling people who have been to New York City recently that they should not, in fact, quarantine.

Coronavirus task force member Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday urged anyone who had been to New York City recently to self-quarantine, as there was a significant chance they contracted the virus.  NY commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, however, said that part of the White House’s guidance wasn’t necessary.

“I would not follow that. I believe you should follow the guidance in general, you should social distance,” he said, according to Wall St. Journal reporter Jimmy Vielkind.

So, now we have a city health commissioner showing independence.  Up to now the local authorities have been saying that because the Federal was not out front, breaking trail in this pandemic, they couldn’t go forward.  See, for example, this item from WWL-TV.

New Orleans would have canceled Mardi Gras if feds had taken coronavirus more seriously, Mayor says.

This is about leadership.  This is about being a leader with vision.  This is about looking ahead and having the courage to act upon what you see.  This is about being willing and able to look ahead and around the corner.

While President Trump will take some hits for not being more forceful earlier, that is not an excuse for, cover for, state and local officials not jumping on the situation early on.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Common Core Uncommon Outcome

For John, BLUF:  Common Core, the update to No Child Left Behind, seems to not have moved things forward.  Maybe the Federal Government is not the level at which to standardize education.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Results Are In: Common Core Is Making American Kids Dumber

From PJ Media, by Writer Stephen Kruiser, 31 October 2019.

Here is the lede:

The never-ending quest of modern educators to find new ways of learning that will never hurt any child's feelings has not been a resounding success thus far.  The ambitious attempt to standardize learning across the country known as Common Core can now be measured and the news isn't good.

The thing is, results seem to be going down, not up.

And here are "8 Lessons to Learn From the Failure of Common Core", for your consideration.

Perhaps the issue is cultural that is a culture that prizes learning and those things that have classically gone along with learning, such as punctuality, meritocracy and the Protestant Work Ethic.  On the one hand the New York City School Chancellor, Richard Carranza sees those concepts as racist.  On the other other hand, some teachers I have spoken to think that that kind of self-discipline and aspiration are necessary for learning success.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Fixing" The Electoral College

For John, BLUF:  The Electoral College serves an important function, in ensuring the smaller and less populated states feel they have a stake in the larger Federal Government.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Challenging the Electoral College’s winner take all system in Massachusetts

From The Boston Globe, by Globe Staff Member Michael Levenson, 10 August 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

A Harvard Law professor, former governor William F. Weld, and Al Gore’s onetime attorney are making a long-shot bid to change the Electoral College system, arguing that it encourages presidential candidates to devote all their time to a handful of swing states and ignore the vast majority of the country.

The high-powered group is suing two blue states, Massachusetts and California, and two red states, Texas and South Carolina, arguing that the winner-take-all system that they and 44 other states use to allocate electors to the Electoral College effectively disenfranchises millions of voters who back the losing candidates.

For Massachusetts it meant rounding up three non-Democrats to file suit against the Commonwealth.  They even found a Republican Student at Harvard who joined the suit.

Sure, this might be a good idea, but having the courts force it seems like a vote of no-confidence is the legislative process.  Why go to a Federal Court to deal with something the General Court could fix itself.  Are we in some sort of "death pact" with most of the other states, where we cannot take the lead without hurting ourselves (or the Democratic Party)?

Regards  —  Cliff

Tenth Amendment Democrats (For Now)

For John, BLUF:  I think of Senator Schumer as a bit of a grand stander.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren are all for state autonomy — when the GOP's in charge

Here is the sub-headline:

Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren want states to decide their own marijuana policies. They're big federalism fans — when the GOP's running America.

From USA Today, by Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 23 April 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, then Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has delivered a whopping tribute to the constitutional doctrine of federalism.

In a series of tweets, he announced:  “Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.  It’s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.  I have long believed that states should function as their own laboratories of democracy.  My bill is a step in the right direction aimed at removing the barriers to state legalization efforts.” —

Schumer was joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who said: “The federal government needs to get out of the business of outlawing marijuana.  States should make their own decisions about enforcing marijuana laws.”

Ah, the idea that the individual States are the “laboratories of democracy” meme.  I think it is just political opportunism.  But, when you are losing to President Trump you need to exploit your opportunities.

Here are my thoughts on Mary Jane:

1. It should be legal, like alcohol.
2. It is bad for you, but, free will and all that.
3. Smoking it in public is not just impolite, but perhaps bad for the health of those around you.
4. No Government entity is going to make money off the taxing of the sale of marijuana.
5. People under the age of 23, at which point the brain is pretty well formed, should be banned from using it

The Author, Professor Reynolds, the InstaPundit, wonders, further into the article, if Senators Schumer and Warren would feel the same way about guns and abortion.  I doubt they would.  I doubt they are all that happy with the Electoral College.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The South Will Rise Again

For John, BLUF:  In Democrat run cities.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Judge says Sessions can’t deny grant money for sanctuary cities

From The Boston Globe and the Associated Press, today, 15 September 2017.

The lede;

CHICAGO — Attorney General Jeff Sessions can’t follow through — at least for now — with his threat to withhold public safety grant money to Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities for refusing to impose new tough immigration policies, a judge ruled Friday in a legal defeat for the Trump administration.

Remember, back in your history lessons in school, how all those Democratic Party controlled Southern States used to defy the Federal Government?♠  It is the same old game, except it has shifted from Democratic Politician controlled states to Democratic Party controlled cities and now they are suing in Federal Courts where they hope to get favorable rulings.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  One time President Eisenhower Federalized the Arkansas National Guard to turn them from defying the order of a Federal Judge to enforcing it.

Crisis in Cameroon

For John, BLUF:  There is nations coming together and there is nations with the majority trying to change the minority, against the will of the minority.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Crisis in Cameroon

Lowell Resident Fru Nkimbeng has been on City Life talking about the problem in the nation of Cameroon.  The nation was originally an amalgam of Francophone and Anglophone areas, separate in language and legal approach.♠  However, the separation of the two portions has been eliminated by the majority Francophone controlled central government trying to impose its views on the minority Anglophone.

This will be discussed by a panel of experts on this Thursday, 11 May, at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) at 7:00 PM.

The location is 246 Market Street, here in Lowell.  Nearby is the Leo Roy Parking Garage.

It should be an interesting panel discussion and worth your attending.♥

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The Anglophone portion uses Common Law and the Francophone uses "Civil Law".
♥  I would be there but I have to be at the meeting of the License Commission at the same time.

Tying Trump's Hands

For John, BLUF:  Think of it as weaponizing the Judiciary to thwart the will of the voters.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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California Attorney General:  'An Executive Order Is Not a Law'

From Pajama Media and Reporter Bridget Johnson, today, 26 April 2017.

The lede plus two:

California's attorney general insisted that the jurisdictions within the state are locking up dangerous illegal immigrants despite the Trump administration's argument that sanctuary cities endanger public safety.

Xavier Becerra, former chairman of the House Democratic Caucus who was appointed to fill the attorney general's post vacated by now-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), told CNN on Tuesday after a federal judge granted an injunction against the administration's vow to strip all federal funding from sanctuary cities that the White House is "in denial."

"You just have to read the constitution. It's very simple. You can't force states to do things that the constitution lets them do. And public safety is one of those items that a state has the responsibility to take care of, not the federal government," he said.

That is the trouble with giving young kids large responsibilities.  They lack institutional memory.  Like when the Federales threatened to withhold Federal Highway Funds if individual states didn't set the highway speed limit at 55 mph.

I wonder if we here in Lowell can get money back from the Federal Department of Housing and Ubran Development (Sec Ben Carson), which they took back because they (HUD) thought a local homeless organization wasn't following their policies.

I see chaos as unintended third order consequences kick in.  On the other hand, Congress can fix this when it does the FY2018 Authorizations and Appropriations, come 1 October.  Or SCOTUS can fix it, or not.

Hat tip to PJ Media.

Regards  —  Cliff

All Are Created Equal, But Not in Every Regard

For John, BLUF:  Another case of too much is too much.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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If You Demand Rights That Aren’t Unalienable, You Don’t Get America

The readily observable fact that we no longer think politically in terms of unalienable rights is a perfect measure of how much we have abandoned the Founders’ vision.

From The Federalist by Mr Robert Curry, the 8th of February of this year.  The lede:

Others before the American Founders had dreamed of a political order of liberty and justice, but every previous attempt ended in failure.  That men again and again, admittedly fitfully and never successfully until the Founders, struggled to hold that ideal above the dreadful historical reality is perhaps Western civilization’s most honorable claim to greatness.  The Founders’ solution is the crowning glory of that noble tradition.

Basically, if we don't ground rights in something, and limit those rights, we risk the American Experiment.

Read the whole thing.

Regards  —  Cliff

Getting Education Right

For John, BLUF:  One size does not fill all.  What is good for Lowell may not be good for Austin, Texas.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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In Monday's edition of The [Lowell] Sun (they did deliver) is an OpEd by Mr George Will, "Leave education to the states' discretion".

Exactly.

Regards  —  Cliff

Scotland Says No

For John, BLUF:  Our Federalized system seems pretty good and its inventors pretty smart.  We just need to not mess it up.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Scotland says No, but the British♠ Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, says there will be more devolution to come, with legislation in January.

The vote seems to have broken 55% against and 45% in favor of separation.  If it was a US Presidential election we would call it a landslide, but with such a large percentage saying separation, there will need to be some fence mending.  Maybe even in Dracut.

The key point to draw from this quick analysis by The Wall Street Journal is that centralization of government, as with the European Union may have peaked and the wave of the future may be moving authority back closer to the People.  As populations increase the distance from Government for any one individual or any group seems to get greater.  One way to prevent disaffection is to make local control a reality.

From the article:

Mr. Cameron said work would begin to grant the devolved government of Scotland more control over tax, spending, and welfare, with a view to forming plans by November and draft legislation published by January.

"To those in Scotland skeptical of the constitutional promises that were made let me say this—we have delivered on devolution under this government and we will do so again in the next parliament," Mr. Cameron said following the result. "The three pro-union parties have made clear commitments on further powers for the Scottish parliament—we will ensure that those commitments are honored in full."

In a surprise proposal, Mr. Cameron also said England, Wales and Northern Ireland should have greater independence in how they govern their affairs.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The United Kingdom is Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales (and for the folks from Cornwall, Cornwall).  England is the bottom half of the island of Great Britain, minus Wales to the West and (and Cornwall to the Southwest).  Wales is that wonderful place with the very long town names located to the West of England.  Then there are some strange arrangements with some of the other islands of the British Isles.

Washington Divided

For John, BLUF:  Let People, to the extent they can, do it themselves.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the Instapundit we have this comment on an article from The Washington Examiner, looking at gridlock in DC.

PHILIP KLEIN:  Washington is divided because it has abandoned federalism.

There has been a lot of handwringing in recent years about how divided Washington is, and how it’s difficult for the parties to come together on anything. But the reality is that the states are divided among themselves.

The architecture of the Constitution offers a natural solution to this problem. Instead of trying to solve every issue at the national level, power should be shifted back to the states. Those states whose residents are willing to pay higher taxes for more government services should be free to do so, as should states whose residents are willing to forgo government benefits in favor of lower taxes. Under such a system, instead of bitterly hashing out every issue in Washington, Congress could be focusing on a limited range of issues.

It’s clear that liberals don’t see things this way. But it should be no surprise that their efforts to impose one-size-fits-all solutions across the nation encounter so much resistance.

And, neither party is immune to this problem, as Professor Glenn Reynolds notes at the end of the blog post:

They rediscover federalism whenever the GOP controls the White House and Congress, but they quickly forget it upon regaining power at the national level. The GOP is only moderately better.

The key point, for me, is that when one has a problem that can't be solved by the group at hand, perhaps it is time to send it back down to a lower level, back where the rubber meets the road.  Too often we are trying to apply a "one size fits all" solution to a complex problem, made more complex because it is not the same problem in Caribou, Maine, as it is in Laguna Niguel, California.  Allowing different areas to solve their part of the problem on their own is the genius of federalism, of our US Constitution.  There is gridlock because people in Washington think they have the single solution to everyone's problem.  And they don't.

Regards  —  Cliff

Revising the Second Amendment

For John, BLUF:  Apparently, Retired Justice Stevens would deny you the right to a gun based on age.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Retired Associate Justice of the US Supreme court John Paul Stevens has a new book out (Six Amendments:  How and Why We Should Change the Constitution) and he is flogging it with an OpEd in The Washington Post.  The OpEd is headlined "Justice Stevens:  The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment."  Frankly, I didn't know it was broken.

But, first, a definition of the Militia.  As originally passed, and apparently still in force, it was a tax on Caucasian males, 18 through 44.  United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/2nd Congress/1st Session/Chapter 33 (there is more, but this is sufficient for the point):

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective states, resident therein, who is or shall be of the age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia by the captain or commanding officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this act.

The Second Amendment as it reads today:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

As Justice Stevens would have it read:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.

I like it.  My only question is, will those of militia age have to buy their own M-16s, or are the various states going to issue them to every man jack of the proper age (and, I assume, every woman).  I assume appropriate securing gear and ammo will also be issued by the states.

In the Althouse blog Comments the Battle 0f Athens (1946) is mentioned.  The most recent time the People took up arms against a corrupt and oppressive government [in the United States].

Of course proposing a Constitutional Amendment is one thing and getting it passed is another.

Regards  —  Cliff

Getting the Mail Trough

For John, BLUF:  Claim that Post Office vehicles are exempt from local laws.

This is what I always thought.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Seeking to Place Blame, While Covering Failure

For John, BLUF:  Mr Michael Goldman's column in the Sunday Sun is always entertaining.  Not always accurate.

In the Sunday Edition of The [Lowell] Sun is an opinion piece by Mr Michael Goldman, of Goldman Associates, in Boston.♠  The title is "Help yourself to 50 states loosely aligned or 1 union".  It is a collection of straw men.

The trust of the argument is that the evil Republicans are preventing us from helping the poor folks devastated by Hurricane SANDY.  This is the hurricane that was worse than KATRINA, but which FEMA and others responded to much better than those terrible people under President George W Bush.  I am waiting for actual history studies before I accept that.

In the mean time, the problem is the Republicans didn't want to vote approval to a pork laden bill.  I know.  That was tacky of them.

In setting the stage for his contrast between the bad old days of every state for itself and the wonder of the FDR Revolution, Mr Goldman mentions the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and a 1998 book about it, Rising Tide"  The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.  Mr Goldman excoriates former Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge.

The most interesting part of this extraordinary book was the reaction of the national government in 1927 to the regional economic holocaust wrought by the unexpected breakdown of the river's levee system, which was created and managed by the National Core of Engineers.

I want to take this in three parts, in that, first the Secretary of Commerce was out leading the rescue effort, and based in part on his efforts, won the US Presidency.♥

Secondly, while some 246 people died and $400 million in damage was done, "holocaust" seems a little over the top.

Thirdly, can I get a fix on the "National Core of Engineers"?  Do you think he might mean the "Army Corps of Engineers"?

We don't leave individual states behind.  There is always creative tension in how we understand the role of the States and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, but we do, as a nation, tend to pull together.  Mr Goldman should do better that this piece.

And, besides, I think Mr Goldman should explain how this fits into the Budget passed by Mr Harry Reid's US Senate.♦

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Nice looking web site.
♥  He could have gotten a dig in at Mr Hoover for making promises to Blacks that he later reneged on, resulting in Blacks shifting their vote to Mr Roosevelt in 1932.  Mr Hoover knew better, but he failed Blacks, himself and his Party.
♦  They are going to try to pass one this year, aren't they, after several years of failure?

States Rights

Over at Slate is a link to Representative (and Vice Presidential candidate) Paul Ryan saying medical marijuana is a State issue.  Doesn't mean he is in favor of it, but it is refreshing to see a candidate who is willing to say that something can be decided at the State level and doesn't have to have a "Federal" solution.

Regards  —  Cliff

Citizens United—Montana Version

One of the nice things about federalism is that one can see a variety of solutions worked out for a single problem.  In this case the Great State of Montana goes a separate way from SCOTUS and it's Citizens United ruling.  Columnist George Will of The Washington Post writes about it.

Hat tip to the Althouse blog.

Regards  —  Cliff

Bill Clinton and Presidential Term Limits

Over at Ed Morrissey's Column at Hot Air we have a discussion of Presidential Term Limits.  This came up when former President Clinton was on today’s Morning Joe.  Host "Joe Scarborough tells Bill Clinton that he will be inundated with e-mail" about why no third term.  The 22nd Amendent is why.  And a fear of too much power in the hands of a President.

Cap't Ed pretty well covers it all.

Regards  —  Cliff

Preparing for Problems—Hurricane Irene

One thing this Administration seems to have gotten right is its relationships with the sovereign states with regard to emergency responses.  Here is a press release from the Pentagon on "Dual-Status Commanders" for Hurricane Irene.

When agreed upon by the Secretary of Defense and the governor of an affected state, dual-status commanders can direct both federal active-duty forces and state National Guard forces in response to domestic incidents. The concept is intended to foster greater cooperation among federal and state assets during a disaster.

While this may, at first glance, look like a "so what" issue, it is part of what got us into trouble with Hurricane Katrina.  The Governor of Louisiana, Ms Kathleen Blanco, was slow to declare an emergency and invite the Federal Government to step in.  And when it happened there was confusion.  The thing is, the Constitution and the Federal Law are pretty clear on this and FEMA and the President would have been legally wrong to move before the Governor invited them in.  As it was preparations were made, but not bright lines were crossed.

With this move by the Governors and the Department of Defense in anticipation of Hurricane Irene we can have "Unity of Command", a big thing in military terms.

Good move, folks.

Regards  —  Cliff