Gunpowder Chronicle posted on August 16, 2008 11:34 AM | Rating:
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Federalism is an important founding principle of our country. The notion of federalism harkens back to the very beginning of our Revolution, when our founding fathers believed in the primacy and sovereignty of state governments over a strong central government. However, they quickly learned that the relationship was untenable, as the Continental Congress struggled mightily to fund and equip the Continental Army without the power to tax and raise revenue.
Our Constitution provided -- originally -- for a central government of limited powers, with any undelegated powers reserved to the states. Unfortunately, the federal government long ago (starting with Lincoln in the Civil War) abandoned any pretense of limited powers, and now reigns supreme with virtually unlimited power (couple with unbridle incompetence) in many areas of our lives. But in no area is that more apparent than Federal Highway Funding.
This is an old story that started with the Interstate Highway System. The Federal Government has used the "power of the purse" to dictate to states highway design and routing, the ability to use toll roads, speed limits, and seat belt usage. And now Ravens' fans who live outside the scope of the Mass Transit Administration are feeling the pinch, too.
Since the opening of the new football stadium in downtown Baltimore, the MTA has provided charter bus service from different locations around the state for a small fee ($10) in order to reduce congestion and parking woes in downtown Baltimore. Baltimore's mass transit system is fundamentally incapable of handling the influx and outflux of 80,000 fans on gameday. So the MTA supplemented the service with a charter service.
The Feds -- spurred on by private charter companies -- ruled that Federal Money could not be used to provide such a service where private companies were available to provide it. Normally, I would be for such a ruling. It always seems better to let provide industry provide these services when possible. Unfortunately, the private charter companies are charging double the fee for the service, and it is nowhere near as convenient. In stead of dropping off right at the stadium, most riders will be forced to transfer to some other form of mass transit for the final several miles in. So, now the riders will pay twice the price for less than half the service.
My big issue here is in two parts: 1) private companies using the Federal Government to protect or create a business model, which is nothing more than rent-seeking if not outright corporate welfare, and 2) the Federal Government dictating to states how tax dollars -- paid for by the state's citizens themselves -- are used.
We can, and should, have a healthy policy on whether the MTA should be involved in providing Charter Services to unserved areas. That is wholly appropriate, and if Marylanders determine that they want their state government to provide such a service, that state government should have the power and right to do that. Nothing in the United States Constitution grants the Federal Government the power to dictate to state governments these types of policy enactments. It should be noted that the MTA claims their lower-priced service ($10) is actually profitable.
What is NOT acceptable is some puffed-up liberal Washington Bureaucrat trying to tell Marylanders how to live our lives. That is decidely not federal in theory or practice. And it is time to reign the Federal Government back into place, so we in the states can make the determination on how we spend our money.