Free Who Has The Power? Essay Example

[Professor]

Alongside separation of power, Federalism is one of the two core structural principles of the Constitution. And the Supreme Court has issued over the past years important decisions regarding Federalism where the states and national government exercise separate powers within their own spheres of authority; however, the battle over the federal and state governments’ power are outstanding, one of which is the wordings from the original text of the Constitution, as cited by the University of Washington, the list of powers in the Constitution is exclusive and that the Federal Government cannot go beyond the list; however, the wordings appear to be broad and open-ended. This ’open ended language’ seem to have provided a flexibility allowing the power of Congress to be at par with unforeseen circumstances. The expansion of Constitutional doctrines goes beyond the express provisions therein.
Recent federalism rulings have been based on the Supreme Court’s newly restrictive reading of some of Congress’s constitutional power focused on Congress’s use of its enumerated powers to regulate commerce “among the states” (Article I, Sec. 8) and to protect civil rights (Amendment 14, Sec. 5). Rulings on the limitation of the ability of the federal government to use court proceedings to force states to comply with federal law, and limiting the reach of federal laws regarding minimum wages, discrimination in employment on the basis of age and disability, and regulation of Indian Gaming had also been issued.
Federalism is an ingenious system of governance because it can unite states by allowing space for differences, thus creating decentralization that allows coexistence, as described in an article by Steve Chapman. ‘Federalism is equally suited to the right and the left’, evidenced by Vermont having an income tax, and none for New Hampshire; gun rights in Texas whilst gun control in California; immigration policies for in-state tuitions, legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, proving that the prerogatives of the state has come to the cause of conservatives.
But one of the most significant examples of this struggle of power is the “Obamacare” or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2012, the Supreme Court had to decide on Obamacare cases to answer the issue, whether or not it exceeds the boundaries of Federal authority under the various Constitutional provisions. Liberals are faced with frustration: first, the Supreme Court ruled that the Medicaid expansion was ‘optional’, so half of the states did not expand, while even more states opted not to set up health-insurance exchanges, letting the Federal government do it. And then the Circuit Court of D.C. ruled that subsidies to be disbursed through federal exchanges are not allowed by the law.
The dividing mechanism of the basic law is Federalism; hence, between the national and local levels, federalism assesses the political question to be decided and in which level should it be decided upon. The question in the case of the health care reform is on the deciding hand over it – Who gets to decide: the Political branches or the Judiciary? According to Erin Ryan in his Opinion article, “the reason federalism questions have become so complicated is that the Constitution itself usually does not resolve it.” The Constitution mandates the principle of Federalism but seem to have failed to distinguish the boundaries of its description upon reliance to its innate meaning.
Therefore, the question of “Who has the power?” cannot be answered either by “Feds” or by “the State,” otherwise it would be theoretical and fictitious; the question must be directed to the clarity of the provision in the Constitution relative to separation of power of the Federal and the State Governance.

Works Cited

Davidson, JD. The Obamacare Anti-Federalists. August 4, 2014. National Review.
Chapman, S. Obamacare Proves the Virtues of Federalism. November 14, 2013. Reason.com