My Political Philosophy

I've written a lot during the last two months about the presidential debates, the media coverage of the campaign, and things of the like. Although it's clear which side I lean toward, it may not be entirely clear where that lean is coming from. So, for both of my loyal readers, I thought I would share my general political philosophy.

I am a federalist. I think the framers of our Constitution had in mind a system whereby the federal government has certain enumerated powers, and the state governments are left to make many decisions and policies for themselves. I think one of the problems with our system today is that the federal government takes on far too large a role in determining policy that our framers intended the states to decide.

Now, I do think that our federal government needs to protect certain civil rights that, throughout our history, some states have ignored. For example, probably the biggest increase our federal government has ever seen was in the aftermath of the Civil War. The southern states were allowing egregious civil rights violations to occur, and that was wrong. The federal government was right to step in.

But, there are other matters that I think both Republicans and Democrats try to regulate from the federal side that should be left alone. One example that comes to mind is gay marriage. I do not think this is a civil rights issue in the same way slavery was. If you disagree with me, so be it. But, I think there are alternatives to gay marriage (such as civil unions) that clearly don't exist with something as horrid as slavery. I think the states should determine whether a gay couple can be legally married. I am against a Constitutional amendment to expressly allow gay marriage, and I am against a Constitutional amendment to expressly prohibit gay marriage.

I know some people would argue that my view is self-contradictory. On the one hand, I favor a federal government that can outlaw, say, slavery. On the other hand, I do not favor a federal government that can outlaw gay marriage. So, where do you draw the line? How do you decide when something rises to a level to where the feds should step in? That's a tough question. But, I think there is a distinction.

With most questions, it's not that complicated. States can write criminal and tort laws. They can handle insurance regulations and licensing issues (be it driver's licenses, liquor licenses or licenses to practice law). The federal government can regulate things over which the Constitution gives it power.

So there you have it. Our founders created a federalist system. To those who haven't done so in a while, read the Constitution. You might find it interesting.