Yeah, that pesky, inconvenient Constitution

Some clueless authoritarian statist[*1] writing in The New Yorker decides that federalism–i.e. the Constitution of the United States–has outworn its usefulness:

Federalism, often described as one of the great strengths of the American system, has become a serious impediment to reversing the downturn.

No, sir, federalism isn’t the problem. It’s precisely the LACK of federalism–in the high-handed, neofascist way Congress and President Clinton demanded that lenders start loaning money to people who couldn’t afford to pay back the loans–and in the myriad of other ways that the Federal Government squanders the wealth of the nation. And yes, State governments squander plenty of our money too, but they at least seem to be somewhat accountable precisely because we demand balanced budgets from State governors and legislatures.