The Loss of Sense of Control: the State of American Government

In the U.S. Constitution, Article Ten says “And yet, Trump decided to have a shutdown over his stupid border wall. In recent times, the U.S government has failed to pass laws and create changes without over half the country hating on it. And on top of that, it also has failed to ensure that it’s own voting system on a national scale doesn’t get tampered with by hostile foreign powers. It is, with all of this in mind, clear to say that the current federal government has exercised too much power and control over the states.

For example, back in 2010, the U.S. passed an Act that had over half the country filing lawsuit with the intention of overturning the new law. But, the act stayed, and got ruled that the U.S. federal government had the final say on major state matters. Sometime afterwards, Mitt Romney, while governor of Massachusetts, passed a health care law that wasn’t too popular with conservatives, but was popular within the state. Plus, he argued that states should be able to make whatever laws that they want to because their people have different opinions than those of other states.

Another example would be voting fraud. In American voting history, there’s been instances of voting fraud, with votes casted in the names of the dead and allegations of double registrations, despite some states allowing people to vote without photo ID, using something with your address on it, and/or verification of your signature as compared to what's on file. As a result, some states have made it mandatory to show a government-issued ID to vote, like South Carolina, which passed laws that made voters present an official government-issued ID before being allowed to vote. While these laws don’t seem unfair to many Americans, myself included, because there has to be real proof that you actually exist, given the laws requiring IDs for things like driving, buying beer or cigars, flying on an plane, etc., The Department of Justice once tried stopping South Carolina from enacting their set laws, but ultimately so, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said they could stay, but with changes. While they still remain law to this day, IDs are no longer necessary if a would-be voter have a good reason for not having one, like being blind and can't drive, or some old guy not owning an ID because of never having a birth certificate in the first place. North Dakota has similar laws when dealing with Native Americans.

So not only has the current federal government overstepped its own set boundaries, it practically ignores its own major problems. Personally, I find this lack of accountability disturbing, to say the least. America must return to the days where the government had LIMITED say in state matters or we could end up in a future where the worst has happened to our democracy. May God help us all in these uncertain times.