bk - It appears you are actually beginning to agree with me about the role of the federal government. The details you cited about the Embargo Act and the Louisiana Purchase actually illustrate how high a priority it was for Jefferson to attempt to strengthen the country as a whole. He may have thought long and hard about the implications of both actions on state and local governments, but he took the actions, for better (Louisiana), or worse (Embargo).

So, jumping to the present, I am still looking forward to hearing your opinion of the actions taken by the current Congress and administration, using the authority of the federal government to rather dramatically check the actions of banks, credit corporations, unions, investment houses and huge multinational corporations (BP). I'll agree that none of these steps are absolutely perfect. They are all strong assertions of federal authority and other than philosophical opposition, I'd like to know specifically what you think is negative about them.