Issue Position: Federal-State Dynamic

Issue Position

Not only is there a constitutional balance between the three branches of federal government, but there is a constitutional balance of power clearly delineated between the federal level of American government and the governments of the individual states. This balance was designed by the founders to establish a government powerful enough to govern, but limited enough to avoid federal despotism. Over the years, the boundary between these two entities has become hazy. Federal reach has subtly, but surely increased with each passing generation. Until now, we find the federal government assuming an ever-increasing and prominent role in the lives of individual Americans which was never intended by the founders. The scope of federal government--whether intentionally or by unconscious drift--now far exceeds the original constitutional mandate.

The state of Missouri, in cooperation with amenable entities within the federal infrastructure and with other amenable states, should--through negotiated reorganization of the power structure--strive to reestablish the constitutionally mandated balance between the federal government and the several states.

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