The current complaint from Democrat mayors, Democrat state representatives, and Democrat governors is that the federal government is the root cause of the unrest in their cities. During this unrest, the federal courthouses in Seattle, Portland, and Chicago (as well as other Democrat-run cities) have been under physical attack.
Rioters and activists are doing their best to destroy these buildings. They claim that these federal facilities are symbols of tyranny and oppression, and that they need to “be gone”. And in other cities that haven’t been under the same kind of physical attack – San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York – the governors also want the federal government to leave.
Ok. Let’s examine their wish… and let’s follow the trail of consequences if that wish was to be granted.
First, let’s shut down all of the federal courts in each state where the current political leaders demand that they be closed. Send in federal officials to retrieve any necessary records – and burn what can’t be taken away. Relocate all of the personnel to another state – yes, move their families, their furniture, their pets, and everything else – to safe locations so they can continue their lives in peace.
Turn off the lights in the federal court buildings, lock the doors, and give the keys to the local politicians. Let them do with those buildings whatever they wish.
Next, send a letter to each governor regarding the future. Tell them that these buildings will remain closed, unoccupied, unstaffed, and unused until the state pays the full costs to repair them, restaff them, reopen them, and to provide sufficient security to protect them.
Make sure the governors know that the buildings will remain closed until the second election after closure (probably 4 years). Why 2 election cycles? It just won’t be safe for occupancy until the voters have a chance to force their political leadership to make the streets safe again, and that would require the arrest and prosecution of any violent activists and those who supported them – and some of those supporters would be politicians currently in office.
Now that the federal courts are unavailable to adjudicate claims and prosecute criminals, other federal operations that depend on the courts must also be closed. Social Security offices, AFDC and other offices, Medicare offices, and any other offices that employ federal workers will also have to be closed and locked. Without a court, there are no legal decisions that can be made.
More?
Without federal offices to administer federal funds, there is no way for Washington to know whether those funds are being legitimately distributed. Therefore, all Social Security payments, Medicare payments, AFDC payments, and any/all other federal payments will have to be stopped and held in escrow until a court can certify the distribution of federal funds.
Remember: the records from those courts are now gone. The slates are clean. Without records, there is no way to properly administer these payments. And without a court or federal offices, there is no way to reestablish qualifications to retrieve those funds. The term “screwed” comes immediately to mind.
Let’s continue.
Without federal offices to guide the distribution of federal funds, payments to schools will have to go into escrow until properly administered. Highway funds. Additional funding for law enforcement. Funding for local and state colleges. The GAO will have to suspend all federal contracts to local companies. Military bases will continue to operate, but they will be unable to purchase food from local providers – remember, no contracts can be signed because there are no operating federal offices in the state.
Lastly, forget about any federal protection against state overreach. Without a federal court, where is a federal civil rights violation prosecuted?
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Everything we do in the United States depends on the existence of federal courts, because federal courts are where federal business is legally certified and where federal Constitutional principles are applied. Without those courts, there is no way for the federal government to guarantee that anything within a state is being done legally.
I’m perfectly ok with shutting off the Left coast’s money drain from Washington. Except for agriculture, there’s almost nothing that comes from the Left coast that I want or need. And the reduction in federal expenditures would certainly reduce my tax bill.
So, let’s give the Left coast governors exactly what they want: less federal “interference” in their states.
And let’s teach them the most important lesson of all: Be careful what you wish for. You may get it.
