Just some friction in The Machine

Posted 7:50 PM by Gerald Klaas
The San Diego Union-Tribune today published an article on The Growth of Federal Policing

"The historical fear against federalizing crime has always been we don't want a national police power," said Gerry Moohr, a law professor at the University of Houston. "We're very near that."

Personally, I think the rise in federal police powers is more closely related to the direct election of Senators (17th Amendment) than any conscious federal power grab. In general, Americans are woefully under-educated on issues of legal jurisdiction and our constitutional government. They just know that when the issue-du-jour hits the media, then they will vote for whoever promises to answer their latest chant of "there-oughta-be-a-law". They don't care what jurisdiction it falls in, just that it (whatever it is) become illegal. Far be it from any level of politician to proclaim that some area of concern is out of their realm, instead you always hear about "being creative" in legislation, or in other words, they promise to stretch the limits of their power so they can proclaim how effective they are. Every extension of federal power becomes a loss of State power, I believe that if US Senators were still elected by State legislators, as our Founders intended, the State legislators would greedily protect those powers they retained. Shy of this particular check and balance, where is the continuous voice for States rights? Like the income tax, and the federal reserve, this growth from the progressive movement is a cancer on our republic and will shorten the time for our slide to democracy, bankruptcy and tyranny.