The Federalist Party

Kevin posted an excerpt of this post from Chaos Manor. The entire post bears reprinting any and every where someone will read it.

It was obvious to me at the time DHS and Patriot Act (and TSA!) were bad moves. Aside from the fact that amalgamating many inefficient bureaucracies into one multiplies not divides the inefficiencies - efficient government is not an overriding concern of mine - centralizing power to meet a crisis leaves the centralized power available for abuse long after the crisis is forgotten. The chances that a future Democrat administration would disband DHS and repeal Patriot Act were patently zero even at the time. Expand, politicize, and abuse now are the order of the day, and I am not surprised in the least.

Both major parties seem now irredeemably statist. Many Republicans are starting to say the right things once more, but I doubt 51% will trust the party again soon enough to help. Nor should we, on the record. I attended the public signing of the Contract With America, and I watched as it was abandoned by Republican "realists" who seemed to think that absolute power in *their* hands was kinda neat.

What becomes of the Tea Parties looks crucial to me. "Federalist" might be a good name for the result - small-f federalism would be far better than what we have, and regardless of the details of the history the name has an intrinsic respectability that would make the new alliance somewhat harder to demonize in the bitter political warfare it would instantly face.

Look at what Governor Perry of Texas has been saying in recent days, and at the response. Arguing that Washington has become overlarge in the nation's affairs and that power should flow back to the regions and the people, that the 10th Amendment means what it says, seems as if its time may have arrived as the common ground for a new governing coalition.

It seems highly unlikely that all the factions the Republicans would need to unite to govern from the center-right will ever again simultaneously trust them (or anyone) with the current scale of massively centralized Federal power. Nor should we. Too many Republicans have swallowed far too many contradictions, have met the enemy and become them.

The Federalist Party. It has a certain ring. Jerry Pournelle

The tea parties can and should morph into a political movement. Calling it the Tea Party is just too cute. Now the Federlist Party, that does have a nice ring doesn't it.