Conservatives applauded the first restriction on federal regulatory authority since 1936. Yet that very month Republicans devised a crime bill that dramatically expands the number of federal crimes. I'm also concerned about a fundamental inconsistency within the new devolutionist movement. The Republicans want to return power to state capitols. Remember, the average big city today contains more citizens than almost all of the original 13 states.
Polls consistently show that people trust their local governments more than any other.
Devolutionists overlook another key issue. The record of states in protecting the weak and the poor and the unpopular is dismal. Only after the 1930s, when the Supreme Court began to apply the federal Bill of Rights to state actions, was legal protection extended to many minorities. In recent history Washington usually has intervened in local affairs, not precipitously but only after years and sometimes decades of local neglect. A Republican President had to send federal troops into Arkansas before that state would allow its black citizens to attend major public universities.