No theory of government is more dear to the hearts of Washington conservatives than the "new federalism"--the notion born in the Nixon . Administration that the Federal Government should give back to the states and cities much of the power that it has acquired since the New Deal. The new federalists' position got a major boost in 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress had only a limited right to interfere with "traditional" functions of local governments. But one Justice, Harry Blackmun, was a reluctant member of the shaky 5-4 majority in that case. Later Blackmun sided against states...
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