I agree with Anthony that Jacob Sullum's brief essay on federalism is a very good critique of neocon hypocrisy on the issue of federalism: They claim to be adherents to the Constitution, but then disavow its most important element, federalism, to suit their political proclivities, i.e., with regard to medical marijuana, etc.
However, it seems to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of federalism here. Jefferson, for one, never meant "federalism," or states' rights, to mean only that the states should do more and the central governement should do less. The key point about the Jeffersonian vision of states' rights is expressed in Jefferson's Kentucky Resolve of 1798, where he enunciated the doctrine of nullification. The citizens of the states, he said, have as much right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws as does any branch of the federal government. The Jeffersonians believed it would be a death blow to liberty if the federal government ever became the sole arbiter of questions of constitutionality.
But that, of course, is exactly what happened in 1865. The War to Prevent Southern Independence resulted in the federal judiciary being the sole and final decision maker with regard to the question of what limits there would be on federal powers. And, as John C. Calhoun presciently forecast, it would soon determine that there were in fact no limits at all. The Tenth Amendment, which Sullum eloquently defines, was put on the path to destruction by the outcome of the war, and finally snuffed out for good in 1913 with the income tax, the Seventeenth Amendment, and the Fed, all of which were death blows to states' rights (or, to use the "polite" euphemism, "federalism"). Woodrow Wilson himself hailed the death of the Jeffersonian vision of states' rights as a wonderfully positive achievement, as would all the tyrants of the twentieth century.
Federalism died 139 years ago; it makes no difference at all who Bush appoints to the Supreme Court; they can never restore genuine federalism unless Americans once again enjoy the rights of nullification and secession.
