Sweeping expansion of federal welfare policies wrecks federalism and undercuts states’ autonomy.

{mosads}But the Senate’s failure here is also indicative of a deeper problem — a problem that has gone ignored by both parties for far too long. The fact that the process has proven so challenging shows us that the federal government is struggling to deal with something it was never intended to deal with in the first place.

Republicans and Democrats have both forgotten one of the most basic principles of our government, namely, the principle of federalism, which reserves all powers not given to the federal government in the Constitution to the states and the people.

We see the consequences of this forgetfulness across all sorts of policy issues. We see it in the current healthcare debacle, as federal leaders struggle with ObamaCare, one of the most egregious examples of federal overreach in the history of our nation.

We see it in other areas, as the Environmental Protection Agency singlehandedly spent a whopping during the Obama administration — far more than any other agency — primarily on regulations written by unelected bureaucrats. We see it in our justice system, where federal mandatory minimums have put thousands behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses, wasting millions of dollars on legal fees and corrections.

On July 4, I announced my candidacy for the . It was an intentional and symbolic choice of date. If elected, I will fight to restore the principles upon which this great nation of ours was founded: federalism and freedom. I will block federal overreach at every step, and strive to return federal power to where the says it belongs, which is with the states and the people.

Fortunately, I come from Missouri, a state that in recent years has made strides towards restoring federalism and constitutional government. State Rep. Jeff Pogue, for example, authored bold legislation that demonstrates the kind of approach towards federalism our country so desperately needs right now. The essentially nullifies any federal laws that violate the right of Missourians to bear arms. It is a right guaranteed not only in the , but in Article I of the as well.

Some might cite the of the Constitution against Pogue’s legislation, arguing that it gives the federal government power over the states. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the law. The clause gives the federal government ultimate power only in those areas where power has been expressly delegated to the federal government. Since federal law states that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed,” the Supremacy Clause does not apply in this situation, and the allows Missouri to, in effect, nullify federal gun laws in the state.

We need more of this kind of approach — and not just from our state legislators. We need federal legislators to fight federal overreach so that state leaders like Pogue won’t need to be on the defensive and craft nullification laws like this in the first place.