It just seems like there is just too much government – particularly at the State and Local Levels these days. When I was a kid the only thing the local government did was give out license plates.
In one county you can drink, the next county over you can’t. A sheriff in one county is on a personnel mission to run strip clubs out of business while they flourish in another county. I drive in my small city into a smaller city without even noticing a change. Yet, each has their own mini-governments complete with separate fire and police. Ever check on the price of a fire engine? There is no thought to economies of scale here. Nepotism is so bad it is completely out in the open. I got a ticket from the city for not cutting my grass in a timely manner…$150. They tell me how big my garage can be and will sue me if I add on. They adjust my property tax when home values rise but are very slow to adjust when they fall.
In one state you get caught with 9oz or booger sugar and you can be out in one year with good behavior. In another, 9oz get you felony intent to deliver with a mandatory TEN YEARS. How would you like to be caught at the border…on the wrong side, having to eat those ten years? One state KILLS while the other doesn’t.
It doesn’t take a three day trip via horse to get from New York to Philly anymore. Information travels at the speed of light. “States Rights” is an issue of the past. It doesn’t matter anymore. We need to destroy government everywhere it exists except a SMALL FOOTPRINT central government that keeps the hell out of my business. A central government half its current size could run this country easy.
Right now we are a schizophrenic country with wildly varying rules and laws. Government is bad but necessary at a very small level. Consolidating power and taking advantage of economies of scale would be the solution.