<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/a093aca0-5d4b-4e33-9b7f-4586bf5d3ed6/CA393794-B29A-46D9-B30F-2472A0AF6320/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/" href="http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/" style="font-size: 11px;">www2.timesdispatch.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/"><P>It is not by mere chance that Madison's republic entrusted the so-called "police powers" (the authority to regulate the health, morals, safety, and welfare of the people) to the states and local governments. By virtue of their proximity to the people, and hence their accountability to them, local and state officials are more likely to do a better job of protecting the cultural underbelly of the American republic than national officials.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/"><P>Additionally, decentralized governance creates incentives for civic engagement, in part by creating multiple opportunities to become "big fish in little ponds." These incentives will only be effective, however, if people are entrusted with real power over their own affairs.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-MARI01_20091030-203609/302659/">There is little doubt that he would be distressed to discover that the American people have become so accustomed to national involvement in their everyday affairs that any suggestion of overreaching on the part of Congress or the president seems downright antiquarian or pernicious.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/CA393794-B29A-46D9-B30F-2472A0AF6320/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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