A recent national survey reported that 60% of Americans believe the American federal government has too much power. Do you agree? Give an example and/or discuss the issues below.
Question to consider: Should the federal government’s power be limited to national governing, leaving most of the power with the states?
1. Voting Rights: Does the federal government have the power to control the way individual states handle elections? President Biden seems to think so—what do YOU think? Also—Is voting by mail a good idea?
Another example: The U.S. Government has been at the forefront of battling Climate Change. The Department of Energy and the Consumer Products Safety Commission have been using considerable power in regulating emissions, plastic bag bans, recycling, building codes, trying to ban kitchen gas stoves, (!) giving subsidies (money) to people who purchase an electric car, subsiding solar and wind power, and discouraging the use of fertilizers in agriculture, to name a few.
Also, the U.S. Department of Energy has also proposed to eliminate our nation’s dependence on petroleum and natural gas by not allowing drilling on federal lands and canceling the Keystone Pipeline project, which would have provided millions of gallons of petroleum to come in from Canadian oil fields. The President stopped this project on his first day in office.
In addition, the President of the United States wants to forgive $10,000 of student loan debt to students who fell behind on their payments (can Biden DO this? Should he?)
2. During the Coronavirus pandemic, we saw governments place many restrictions on individual freedom—wearing of masks, social distancing, mandatory vaccination, closing schools and public places, limiting the size of crowds, etc. Do you think federal and state governments were justified in limiting our freedom and civil liberties during this pandemic? Did they go too far?
