Nanny feds extend meddling even further into states’ affairs

(Thomas Mitchell) – Federalism and Generalissimo Francisco Franco are still dead.

The latest foray by the feds into state sovereignty is the demand that states create climate change prevention policies before they can receive FEMA disaster relief funding. A few Republicans are offering token resistance.

Today, the federal government has its fingers, hands and arms up the elbow in the running of states. The state of Nevada gets 35 percent of its state budget from the benevolent, meddling feds.

Amusingly, on the same day the Las Vegas newspaper had an editorial complaining about the FEMA demands, it had a news account reporting that the state is having to spend millions on storm drainage to comply with EPA requirements.

There have been ongoing stories about what the state can get in funding if it will take nuclear waste and bury it in Yucca Mountain.

The Supreme Court said Obama could not coerce the states into expanding Medicaid coverage by denying funding, but just about every other incursion seems OK.

Congress set the drinking age nationally by threatening to deny funding to any state that did not comply. Likewise the hated 55 mph speed limit.

Education funding is threatened if states don’t comply with No Child Left Behind.

Of course, the feds control 87 percent of the land in Nevada.

The original version of this column was published at Mr. Mitchell’s blog.

Mr. Mitchell publishes the 4TH ST8 Blog at www.4thst8.wordpress.com.