As conservatives try to make sense of the push-back against DOGE and Trump's efforts to shrink the size of the federal government it is important to understand the underlying issue:
Federalism and CON-Federalism.
From our very inception as a nation this issue festered. Some of our founding fathers promoted federalism while others were against it.
The federalists of that time saw the purpose of a strong federal government in quashing the petty arguments that would arise between the states.
But those who favored federalism could not possibly have visualized a federal government with 3 million unelected employees under 11 bureaus which were not even mentioned in the Constitution.
Nor could those federalists conceive of the corruption arising despite the checks and balances built into the Constitution.
Nor could those federalists have imagined that a strong federal government would run up a debt of
$36,000,000,000,000.
The CON-Federalists amongst the founding fathers could not have imagined the specifics of our current state but they had a healthy fear of it based on the history of the world.
In light of the reality that you are living in (you don't have have to imagine as the founding fathers did) you must make your decision between Federalism and CON-Federalism based on your attitude toward freedom, responsibility and justice.
If you consider your wages your's and consider the wages of others theirs, you are a CON-Federalist.
If you value your right to be wrong and the right of others to be wrong, you are a CON-Federalist.
If you take responsibility for your actions and expect others to take responsibility for theirs, you are a CON-Federalist.
If you want to be treated justly and want others to be treated justly, you are a CON-Federalist.
If you consider your income as that which the government determines you should have, you are a Federalist.
If you are willing to give up your right to be wrong for the sake of keeping others from being wrong, you are a Federalist.
If you don't want to take responsibility for your actions and are OK with others not taking responsibility for theirs, you are a Federalist.
If you are OK with being treated unfairly and with others being treated unfairly, you are a Federalist.
I know that Federalists will take exception with this analysis claiming it is an over-simplification of the differences but you know in your heart that
- simplicity brings clarity and
- clarity yields decisiveness and
- decisiveness enables progress.
Choose wisely, my friend.