fatclue_98
Retired Moderator
Now (after back tracking to several of your prior posts) I can see that when you say "state-first" you mean a confederacy in the strictest sense. While I still don't think confederacies are as "theoretical" as communism, strict confederacies have their issues, some of which you've noted.
HOWEVER, you seem to have led to the whole "confederacy" discussion based on the inclination that the Republicans/Tea Party want a confederacy. Maybe some extremist have stated such a desire, but they are most certainly in the minority. If you look at our nations history, our central or federal government has grown exponentially in the past century. From Teddy Roosevelt's progressive movement, and FDR's New Deal, the federal government has extended itself greatly (good and bad).
Lately, the failures, corruption, and overall mess of the Federal government has reached a point where people are truly beginning to distrust it at a fundamental level. Hence the interest in refocusing on States rights. NOT building a confederacy.
Now we're bridging the divide a little. Unfortunately, the Tea Party has the GOP's ear because they excite their base. I didn't leave the Republican Party, it left me. Privatization is inherently evil because of the very corruption you mentioned. Who's going to keep an eye on these corporate thieves? Certainly not the state/benefactor who has made them rich. Smaller government has proven to be a failure of Biblical proportions when it comes to education. Ronald Reagan disbanded a cabinet-level department in 1983 called the Department of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW). Pandering cost us taxpayers dearly for this foible and years later, a new Department of Education was created. Instead of shrinking government, Reagan actually expanded it because the states effed it up and required another cabinet post and the salaries of God knows how many federal employees. Bush 43 created the Department of Homeland Security and it's actually a Democratic administration toying with the idea of shutting it down. Go figure.