Some state budget stabilization funds wound up on the stimulus cutting room floor yesterday. Matthew Yglesias wonders why seemingly strong political constituencies like state-level politicians and state employees were left out in the cold.
Tyler Cowen has the answer. In short, voters will blame governors, not U.S. senators, for state fiscal problems.
Governors and state legislators might have a bit more clout at the federal level if it weren't for that darn 17th Amendment. It's been suggested that the 17th Amendment contributed to the expansion of the federal government; which makes it all the more painfully ironic that states get a bit of short shrift in this biggest expansion of them all.
(Note: go to the actual article linked above; the author includes a number of amplifying links in his article, especially one from Tyler Cowen and Todd Zwicki. I just switched to a Mac and I am still learning my way, so my publishing skills are lacking at the moment.)
Comment: Folks like G. Edward Griffin have been telling us for years that the expansion of the federal government was due to the 17th Amendment, but sadly most have dismissed him as some sort of fringe radical. However, I think the main stream is waking up to the corrupt nature of our current form of US Senate, which resulted from the 16th and 17th Amendments, especially during the last year of this massive economic “give away” and the implosion of our economy, albeit slowly.
1 comment:
Sweet. It's good to hear that point being made.
JohnJ
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