State Vs Federal Power

aquafire

What would be the advantages Vs disadvantages of eliminating local / county / state / tiers of government for one Federal government ?

Some economic rationalists would argue that duplication of so many state / federal regulations, plus the cost of maintaining such duplication, is highly inefficient, & places a greater burden of tax costs on the whole population.

Would we all be better served by eliminating all state legislatures, (state parliaments) & state laws in return for uniform Nation wide legislation created & supported by state senators.



Is it time for states to give up their powers to tax etc in the interest of national uniformity & economic efficiency...?

ast3r3x

Quote:

Originally posted by aquafire

What would be the advantages Vs disadvantages of eliminating local / county / state / tiers of government for one Federal government ?

Some economic rationalists would argue that duplication of so many state / federal regulations, plus the cost of maintaining such duplication, is highly inefficient, & places a greater burden of tax costs on the whole population.

Would we all be better served by eliminating all state legislatures, (state parliaments) & state laws in return for uniform Nation wide legislation created & supported by state senators.



Is it time for states to give up their powers to tax etc in the interest of national uniformity & economic efficiency...?

not unless you like anarchy...and i do not know how many people on these boards could fend for themselves

scott

I think some economist would argue that when states have control and compete for business and residents it produces a better system than would be realized with no competition.

aquafire

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott

I think some economist would argue that when states have control and compete for business and residents it produces a better system than would be realized with no competition.

I seem to remember examples of states giving IT & other industries big tax breaks in order to set up shop in their neck of the woods...Only trouble is most of these companies, just played the field, & pulled up stakes when another state offered even lower costs..including basic wages.....

\

aquafire

not unless you like anarchy...and i do not know how many people on these boards could fend for themselves [/QUOTE]





Care to explain ?

brussell

It's pretty clear that the federal government has more power today than the framers intended. Initially, even the bill of rights wasn't intended to apply to states. Today it's hard to imagine the bill of rights not applying to states, when that's where most of the constitutional action is today (e.g., prayer in schools - state officials, abortion - state laws). How many of us even interact with the federal government very often?



But a lot of that increased federal power was a direct result of some of those states being very, very bad about 150 years ago.

aquafire

But a lot of that increased federal power was a direct result of some of those states being very, very bad about 150 years ago. [/B][/QUOTE]



Australia, started off as seperate & distinct colonies with their own seperate armies & navies and even coinage..

They decided to Federate in 1900, using the American model as their exemplar....

So in our case, its provided a greater level of efficiency, but we still have problems with internal tax barriers set up between states...troubles over who controls our water sources etc etc....

Seems to me, that Federal representation offers greater efficiencies at the Macro-national level, while at the expense of efficiencies at the micro-state level....

Still the question remains as to how many politicians do you want to support..remembering that they all dip into to your pocket as a way to make a living....\

thuh freak

i, for one, am against a larger federal government. [exaggeration]i don't want to get bossed around by the king of england while he's over on the other side of the ocean.[/exaggeration] i don't like the idea of an essentially foreign power controlling what i do. local governments can account for local customs, and slight variations of local accepted behaviours. like, in texas they are relatively strong on the death penalty. while i respect the texans right to be as they may on that issue, i wouldn't want that for my locality. separating the nation into manageable chunks makes people more comfortable with their beaurocracy, i think.

scott

Quote:

Originally posted by aquafire

I seem to remember examples of states giving IT & other industries big tax breaks in order to set up shop in their neck of the woods...Only trouble is most of these companies, just played the field, & pulled up stakes when another state offered even lower costs..including basic wages.....

\

I'm sure you can remember an example of almost anything. Unless you can cite this I'm sure you're just about making this up.

zaphod_beeblebrox

Quote:

Originally posted by aquafire

What would be the advantages Vs disadvantages of eliminating local / county / state / tiers of government for one Federal government ?

Some economic rationalists would argue that duplication of so many state / federal regulations, plus the cost of maintaining such duplication, is highly inefficient, & places a greater burden of tax costs on the whole population.

Would we all be better served by eliminating all state legislatures, (state parliaments) & state laws in return for uniform Nation wide legislation created & supported by state senators.



Is it time for states to give up their powers to tax etc in the interest of national uniformity & economic efficiency...?

Efficiency? Are you out of your mind? I can't think of a single advantage in having the Federal government worrying itself over issues like potholes and snow removal, etc. Instead of hundreds of representatives on local city and town councils, instead of all the mayors and all the local representatives to the state legislature, you'd have one elected official per Congressional District. Even if half of the people elected to state and local office are slugs what is it about Congress that makes you think that one Congressperson would be so superior to all those people he or she would be replacing? Three hundred million people ruled by 536 people - sure you'd cut down on a lot of salary but representative government would be dead.

ast3r3x

i think its good exactly how it is setup



local gov for us



state to keep local in line (with a more broad view)



national/fed who keeps state in line (with the most broad view)







we vote for the people so its how WE want it (well how the marjority wants it)



did i mention i'm an authoritarian?

aquafire

I'm sure you can remember an example of almost anything. Unless you can cite this I'm sure you're just about making this up. [/QUOTE



Chew on these Scott: !

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa225.html



http://www.progress.org/banneker/cw.html



http://www.free-market.net/features/spotlight/9702.html



http://www.taxpolicy.com/cwsearch/



Its called "Corporate Welfare " & it is as much a problem in Oz as it is in the USA...

Come to think of it, its kind of like " Pork-barrelling "

aquafire

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott

I think some economist would argue that when states have control and compete for business and residents it produces a better system than would be realized with no competition.

Oh and while we're at it:

you might like to cite some economists supporting your vague generalizations .....othewise I might think your spanking your monkey again !

towel

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott

I'm sure you can remember an example of almost anything. Unless you can cite this I'm sure you're just about making this up.

Kansas and Washington are right now locked in a battle to see who can vote the most subsides to Boeing for the privilege of having the 7e7 assembled in their state (est. 4000 jobs).



Kansas's bid stands at $500 million in tax-free bonds, backed by the state, to be repaid from a income tax on Boeing employees. Plus a tax credit to Boeing of $1500 for each Kansas employee.



Washington is still considering a response, but the local paper suggests using tax-free bonds to build a private Boeing port terminal, killing light rail, raising the gas tax, slashing workplace regulations, reducing unemployment benefits, and instituting state-wide pass-to-graduate testing.



I'm sure this sort of thing goes on all the time, everywhere, but Seattle has enough small-town flavor (and a Boeing obsession) that it makes the front page.

aquafire

Thanx Towel,

My point exactly...

What I heard on radio (PBS ?) was that after the various states bust themselves to secure a little bit of local employment., these big companies stick around for a while, then up stakes & go without so much as a goodbye, leaving wreckage in their wake.

More often than not they move to another state or even worse..overseas to cheap asian sweat shops..Thankyou NIKI.

Only trouble is, that the same Federal government that should be stopping these practices, actually appears to assist them in their pig-fest. Makes one wonder...\