Know Your Role!

September 23, 2009 by Steve Schultz @GeniusbyOsmosis · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News

The founding fathers created this nation with a separation of powers between States and the Federal Government. Since then our government system has evolved so much that often lines are blurred and sometime completely ignored. It’s time we re-establish what was created and ensure each level of government understands their role.

Recently the Seattle PI reported that Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed a city rule banning guns in areas where children and families gather. He “began efforts after a man shot and injured three people at the 2008 Folklife Festival at Seattle Center.” This new rule would essentially ban guns in “more than 500 Parks and Recreations Department facilities across Seattle.” To many this doesn’t seem unreasonable. To many this is just like guns being banned at schools. While this proposal made by Nickels is an infringement on our great Second Amendment, this is not the actual issue at hand.

The Attorney General for Washington state understands what the real issue is here. The AG’s office reported that “cities lack the authority to ban guns because local laws would conflict with state regulations.” This isn’t about gun rights, rather, it’s about government powers. It’s about the government reaching beyond it’s constitutionally given powers to intrude upon other levels of government or to even intrude on our personal rights and freedoms.

We’ve seen the mayor of San Francisco, California, Gavin Newsom, do this time and time again. He’s allowed gay-marriage despite what current California state law dictates. He’s claimed San Francisco a safe-haven for illegal aliens. Just this past week he had the audacity to assess a levy to stores that sell soda. While he admits he will likely be sued over it he still moves forward as though he had all the power in the world to make San Francisco what he wants it to be.

While I can appreciate one’s vision to make change, this repeated over-reaching of power in the United States has gone on and on without check. Now we see the Federal government trying to take control of the Internet. They have invested in US Corporations and sold us out. They want to take away our right to choose health care. They want to give rights to those that are here illegally. They are trying to suppress free speech on all levels. They are wanting to build a civilian national security force. And for what?

This type of behavior must stop. Every level of government must know their role. The lines must be drawn. Our country was built by uniting individual State governments under a small Federal government. At no point was the Federal government to become more powerful than any one state in the Union or all of them combined.

There is only one answer to this problem – small government. Vote the government out of your lives by electing officials that believe in your rights and the rights of your State, county, and city. Leave no one unchecked and fight for a smaller government.