Douglas Alexander: “in our political speeches, Senators, especially we Republicans, have a lot to say in defense of the Tenth Amendment…”

“in our political speeches, Senators, especially we Republicans, have a lot to say in defense of the Tenth Amendment, that all powers not expressly given to the central government are reserved to the States. We are big talkers about local control, about State responsibilities, and about State rights. Somehow, when we get to Washington and away from home, a lot of that goes up in smoke. We start thinking of grand ideas and sending State and local governments the bill to pay for our grand ideas. Special education for children with disabilities, but we say to the State and local governments, you pay the bill. New construction to stop storm water runoff, but we say to the cities, you pay the bill. Higher standards for roads, we say to the States, you pay the bill. New standards for highly qualified teachers, you pay the bill. We call these unfunded mandates. What I want to talk about today is the worst kind of unfunded mandate. Not only do we have grand ideas and are telling State and local governments that they have to pay for them, we now want to tell them how to pay for them.”