themarketswork

a common sense approach to a liberal world

Exploring Federalism

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“The States can best govern our home concerns, and the General Government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore…never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may be more secretly be bought and sold as at market.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Our nation has experienced a complicated and ever-evolving relationship between our central (federal) government and our state governments. There are three broad approaches to division of powers between state and national governments; Unitary, Confederal and Federal.

Unitary systems are governments whereby virtually all power is consolidated at the central or national level.

Confederal systems are at the opposite end of the spectrum – where virtually all decision-making power is pushed out to the state level. The national government’s primary purpose is to serve as the mechanism that keeps states loosely bound to each other. Said another way, under Confederal systems each state keeps its own sovereign rights – and can secede.

Federal systems lie somewhere in the middle – and cover a broad spectrum of definitions. Federalism divides powers between state and national governments. Each level of government is independent and each level has its own set of powers and responsibilities. In its truest form, Federalism divides powers between national government and states in such a way that both levels are lawfully regarded as having equal stature or parity. In practice, the national government often attempts to consolidate power and ends up being supreme to state governments.

The system chosen by our founding fathers was a Federal system – one that retained a large amount of power at the state level and away from the central government.Continue Reading

Repeal the 17th Amendment

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“It is not by the consolidation, or concentration, of powers, but by their distribution, that good government is effected.” – Thomas Jefferson

A few days back I made a case for the Electoral College and why we should respect and be grateful for its existence (see: The Electoral College Balance). Essentially, it all boils down to preserving individual and state rights against the natural tendency towards consolidation of power at the national level.

Diffusion of power is good.

Diffusion of power – or separation of power – is one of the most fundamental tenets of our great Constitution. When power is consolidated in the hands of the few the needs of the many are ignored. The founding fathers recognized this great trap and sought to put in place lasting safeguards against the natural tendency of the national government to gain undue political power. It is the very reason we are a Republic as opposed to a Democracy (technically a dictatorship by the majority). We are a Republic with Constitutionally Limited Government.Continue Reading

The Renaissance of the Right

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The full enormity of what is happening within the GOP and Washington is just beginning to sink in, the possibilities just beginning to take hold.

A glimmer into what’s coming was revealed last night when Newt Gingrich, in talking about what position he might want in a Trump Administration, calmly and matter-of-factly uttered these words;

“I want to be the general planner, looking out over the next eight years, and trying to design how we fundamentally reshape the federal government”

“and that’s a very broad job. The closest analogy probably would be Harry Hopkins and the work he did for Franklin Delano Roosevelt”.

And that was the moment I began to truly grasp how enormously fundamental this structural change will be.Continue Reading

The Electoral College Balance

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Please pardon the quotes – they have real relevance to the short discussion that follows

“A pure democracy…can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will…be felt by a majority of the whole…and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party…Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention…and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

– James Madison (Federalist Papers)

“Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long…There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”

– John Adams

“A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

– John AdamsContinue Reading

The Death of Discourse or Why Liberals Lost

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Have you tried holding a calm, rational discussion with your democratic friends over why you supported Trump?

Impossible.

Have you tried to hold a calm, rational discussion with those same friends over why you opposed Hillary?

Easy.

And somehow, the Democrat Party managed to ignore that simple fact. Lots of voters could not stand Trump. But they would refuse to defend Hillary.

And that’s part of the reason why liberals lost. But it’s not the entire reason.Continue Reading

President Trump (and The Power of the Uncool)

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The uncultured billionaire won the support of the uncultured voter. And became the President of the United States as a result.

Or as Greg Gutfeld said, “The uncool kids just told the cool kids to suck it”.

Think about it this way. This country has millions of folks who get up every day, go to their jobs, coach their kids’ little league teams, have dinner around the living room table – and then sit down in front of the television and find out they are mocked for the very values that guide their daily life.

Since when did it become the norm to look down on folks who work hard, raise their kids and love their family and country? My guess is the nineties…Continue Reading

Divided We Stand

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What do we, as a nation, become on Wednesday?

Do we stand together, united as one, under our newly elected president or do we remain apart – distanced by our ideological beliefs?

There are many who are concerned over the rift exposed throughout our nation during this election cycle. At the polarization that has occurred. At the emotions evoked and stirred.

I am not one of those.  I am unconcerned over the rift – although I am concerned over the reasons for the rift. And I reject calls to simply fall behind any elected leader.Continue Reading

The Most Frequently Asked Question

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When people find out what I did for a living I generally ready myself for The Most Frequently Asked Question – “Do you have any stock tips” (or some variant thereof).

My answer is boring. Really boring.

My first response is a question – how much do you have saved up in liquid assets – cash, money markets, savings accounts – for emergencies. Do you have enough liquidity to pay all your bills (rent, groceries, insurance, utilities, etc.) for 6-12 months. “Yes” means we can keep talking. “No” means go save some money. Now.

Assuming the answer was yes we then move on to a spirited discussion of Index Funds. This generally meets with some disappointment.Continue Reading

Milton’s Responsibilities

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“There is one and only one social responsibility of  business, to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits”

– Milton Friedman 

 

Sound familiar? This is the thesis the brilliant Milton Friedman put forth in a famous article in the NY Times back in 1970 (he actually published the idea seven years earlier). This quote is widely used and often repeated – many times in ways that challenge or critique his basic assertion.Continue Reading