The other day, a friend of mine posted this on Facebook.

I am starting to wonder why I bother to pay my cable bill. Internet is down again at home. Time Warner says that they can’t get a technician out to the house until tomorrow afternoon. If they didn’t have a monopoly I would drop them in a heartbeat but as things are I guess I have no recourse.

When I read this, I thought, “Wow! I feel the same way about the federal government.”

Seriously, substitute “taxes” for “cable bill” and “federal government” for “Time Warner,” and I bet you’ll nod your head in agreement.

Americans instinctively distrust monopolies in the business world, and my friend vividly illustrates why. They tend to evolve into entities that provide poor service costing more money and leaving you with no recourse when they screw you over.

So, why do Americans so enthusiastically embrace the increasing monopolization of government at the federal level? More and more, they turn to the Washington D.C. to solve every problem, from crime, to consumer safety to health care.

The abysmal results, high cost and lack of human empathy should surprise nobody.

The United States were never intended to run in this manner. The federal government was never intended to force one-size-fits-all solutions to every problem on 300-plus million people. The founders never envisioned creating a government version of Time Warner.

The American system was designed to remain decentralized. The federal government was meant to exercise a few defined powers, and most issues handled at the state and local level. James Madison laid out the intended distribution of power in Federalist 45, saying the federal authority “will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce…The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.”

It seems as if Madison’s vision got obliterated like a man landing on Boardwalk with a hotel. Federal power extends to everything. The U.S. government has morphed into a monopoly.

Breaking up that monopoly lies at the heart of the Tenth Amendment Center’s mission. By forcing the feds to relinquish the undelegated powers it wrested from the state, the people will once again have recourse. Don’t like the health care policy in Massachusetts? Move to New Hampshire. Think New York exercises too much control over firearms? Move to Texas. Want to smoke weed? Move to Colorado. States can experiment with different policies within a competitive environment. That will ultimately lead to better policies. Competition fosters innovation and drives down cost. This remains true whether applied to market products or public policy.

A decentralized system offers competition, choice and ultimately – more freedom.

It’s time for a little antitrust action against the monopoly institution in Washington D.C. Find out out to take action and get involved HERE.

 

Mike Maharrey

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