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Faking Federalism-
Casper Star Tribune, August 1998 Perhaps being in England resulted in more then jet lag. A time warp would perhaps account for him conducting himself as a ruling monarch of old. Such monarchs are renowned for their legacy of arrogance and disregard for legal details of governing. Apparently Bill Clinton decided that he had finally found just the legacy he had been looking for in these role models. Federalism refers to the organization of our government — how the states have agreed to organize to govern according to the U.S. Constitution. Separation of powers and a government by the people are at the heart of the term federalism. This becomes very important if and when an Administration attempts to take power from the states that the Founders of the Constitution intended to remain with the states. Education, interstate commerce, health care, population distribution, natural resource utilization are only some of the areas that would have been negatively affected. Legal requirements to publish any intended PEO in the Federal Register, alerted and protected the American people for now. Fortunately, watchful congressional and concerned Americans intervened.
What were and are
some of these goals? Who would determine when federal action was needed
to achieve them? Well, agencies of the United States government that
come under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1) would qualify. They would decide if and
when the powers of this Executive Order would be invoked. According
to Executive Order 13083 this could be: Any action outside of a state's
borders. (Example- interstate commerce) These examples and other parts of this Executive Order would have expanded federal government power. It also would have revoked Executive Order 12612, which had endeavored... "to restore the division of governmental responsibilities between the national government and the States that was intended by the Framers of the Constitution and to ensure that the principles of federalism established by the Framers guide the Executive departments and agencies in the formulation and implementation of policies." Misuse and abuse of Presidential Executive Orders (PEOs) is one way to blur lines of authority between sovereign governments, state and national. While the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution was intended to formalize the constitutional relationship between states and the national government this is apparently irrelevant to the Clinton/Gore Administration. PEOs are intended to give any Administration a mechanism to deal with special situations. They were never intended as mechanisms to avoid, diminish or destroy parts of the U.S. Constitution. This detail is obviously irrelevant to the Clinton/Gore Administration. No surprise here! This Administration has written more Executive Orders then any other. Intended for special situations, the Clinton/Gore Administration uses them to formulate policy without the American public's consent. It's the "We know what's best for the peasants" mentality that has come to permeate American lives. This flies in the face of what federalism and this nation are all about. Clinton and Gore seek to position themselves so that all authority to govern comes from the President and the Wanna Be President. Each of the Executive Orders involved here 13083 and 12612 bear the title Federalism. The similarity stops there. Attempting to disguise a dictatorship behind the word Federalism is beyond the magic wand of Clinton/Gore wordsmithing. The great tag-team of spinmasters cannot out distance the Founding Fathers of this nation. It is worth reading,
for yourselves, EO 13083 to see how this Administration is attempting
to achieve a government for the President and by the President. With
Executive Orders such as 13083 — who needs a Constitution! Permission
granted to reprint in full or part with full credit given to author.
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