Part of their plan no doubt to help usher in regional government..Started with Nixon in roughly 1972
NIXON DECREES U. S. NOW COMPOSED OF TEN FEDERAL REGIONS
Author’s note: In this book, when one or more of the individual States is mentioned by those advocating policies which will diminish the power of the sovereign States, the word appears as "state" or "states." When those supporting the sovereignty of the States make mention of States- it appears as "State" or "States."
In his State of the Union address on January 22, 1971, President Richard Nixon stated:
"The further away government is from people, the stronger government becomes and the weaker people become….
"I reject the idea that government in Washington, D.C. is inevitably more wise, more honest and more efficient than government at the local or state level…
"The idea that a bureaucratic elite in Washington knows what is best for people everywhere and that you cannot trust local government is really a contention that you cannot trust people to govern themselves. This notion is completely foreign to the American experience. Local government is the government closest to the people and it is most responsive to the individual person; it is people’s government in a far more intimate way than the government in Washington can ever be…
"Let us give the people of America a chance, a bigger voice in deciding for themselves those questions that so greatly affect their lives."
The philosophy of government expressed in this address does indeed represent that of the vast majority the American people. However, Mr. Nixon’s actions regarding this philosophy are the diametric opposite. Commenting on the President’s State of the Union message, Congressman John Rarick observed:
"‘Power to the people’ is a slogan used not only by radical socialists in their plans to communize America but also by President Nixon in his New American Revolution.
"Whereas the rhetoric of the President is desirable and encouraging, the words unfortunately are made suspect by actions. By consistently asking for more and more tax funds for more and more federal programs which add to the federal payroll an increasing number of bureaucrats who increasingly control more and more facets of the daily lives of citizens; by grouping States into regions with unelected federal overseers, thereby removing power farther from the people… the Chief Executive is, in effect, fostering power over the people rather than ‘power to the people.’"
"Power to the people" is a traditionally American concept, which is what the Constitution of the United States is all about. When the necessary number of the original thirteen colonies ratified the U.S. Constitution, they established a government in which political power was decentralized. By the constitutional contract, they surrendered, to the federal government, only specified powers. Powers not delegated to the federal government were reserved to the States and to the people. This is specifically spelled out in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.