- Changing the shape of government.
While conservatives have been concerned with President Obama embracing globalization, a concept intended to develop a worldwide culture and set of laws, there is another concept quietly slipping in our back door, namely "regionalism," which is also concerned with changing our view of government. It is from the progressive playbook for expanding government and exerting more control.
Historically, our country has followed the following precedence of power for government:
Federal > State > County > Municipal
Cities and towns are charged with managing their own affairs (Municipal), Counties oversee all of the cities and towns, States oversee counties, and the federal government oversees the states. This approach has worked effectively for over 200 years, but progressives now want to change it.
In a nutshell, regionalism looks to create metropolitan governments spanning multiple counties. For example, in the Tampa Bay area, it is concerned with combining Hillsborough County with Pinellas, and possibly more, such as Manatee, Pasco, and Sarasota. In California, the Bay area region could involve San Francisco, Oakland, and Sonoma County. In Western New York, it might mean combining Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Jamestown. In southwest Ohio, it would include Cincinnati, northern Kentucky, and southeast Indiana. This is a concept that has been tested in Europe (such as ithe Basque area between Spain and France).
By creating such regions, they are creating another layer of government bureaucracy and taxes. Translation: more big government that will usurp the power of municipalities and counties. Under this scenario, the ideal progressive power structure would then appear as:
Global > Federal > State > Region > County > Municipal
Whereas globalization represents a threat to the authority of federal and state governments, regionalism will do likewise to counties and municipalities. The real intent is to increase political power by reshaping the structure of government. Basically, it negates the need for legal and long-standing geographical boundaries, even going so far as to cross state lines.
How is this happening? Simple, infiltration and takeover of county governments. To illustrate, here in Pinellas County our municipal candidates are elected as independents. They do not have to identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans. However, the reality is the local governments are controlled by progressive Democrats, something the average tax payer is not aware of. Once in charge, they can reach out to other counties and municipalities to try and form regions. This nearly happened in the Tampa Bay area until the public was made aware of it.
Regionalism is just as insidious as globalization. Efforts are underway to implement both concepts which change our government and way of life. However, a push back may be happening as demonstrated recently by BREXIT in the United Kingdom where the people voted to leave the European Union, thereby rebuking the taking of orders from Brussels. Such an action implies people want to maintain government at the local level. They want smaller government, not bigger.
So, next time you hear the word "regionalism," hold on to your wallet, for that is what they are ultimately after.
Also published with The Huffington Post.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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