Doing the job the Feds won't do?

Jay Tea at Wizbang calls it Amendment 10-A.

...of late, with the Obama administration, a situation has arisen that I believe is unprecedented in American history: what should be done when the federal government asserts its supremacy in certain areas, and then not only refuses to act, but forbids anyone else from acting? What should be done when, in the face of a crisis, the federal government demands that said crisis go unaddressed?

We're seeing that play out now, twice.

In Arizona, the state has suffered for years the burdens inflicted by the federal government's refusal to enforce border security and the laws regarding illegal aliens. It's something that has bothered many states, but Arizona has been especially hard hit. Finally, the people of Arizona had enough and passed a law demanding that its law enforcement officials do what the federal government refused to do: to enforce the existing laws on the books.

This sent the Obama regime into a frenzy. They have said, in effect, that it is the policy of the United States to not enforce its laws on illegal aliens, and nobody -- not even Arizona -- could compel it to change. They then went on to say that they might -- might -- be willing to step up and live up to their responsibilities as part of "comprehensive immigration reform," which I interpret as a form of political blackmail: "give us what we always want on this issue, and we might -- might -- just give you a token gesture of enforcement." And in the meantime, they're doing all they can to badmouth and demonize the people of Arizona. It's a variant of the carrot and stick approach, but the stick is a baseball bat with nails driven through it and the carrot is a stick of dynamite painted orange, straight from the Acme factory.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the state is getting slowly pounded with oil from the BP oil platform disaster. The Obama administration's response seems fixed around making sure the right people get the blame, not stopping the leaks or mitigating the damage. So Governor Jindal has said "screw it" to the idea of waiting for Washington to get off its asses, and ordering his own state to do what needs to be done to protect itself.

There are two theories in how to resolve situations like this. One solution, the more proper one, is to find some way of compelling Washington to live up to its responsibilities. It could involve finding a compromise, some kind of leverage or inducement to the current administration to do what it simply ought to do, or up and replacing them in the next round of elections. That's in the best American spirit: our system of government has been described as 'institutionalized revolution," and peacefully overthrowing a government that fails to do its fundamental duties is entirely appropriate.

Then there's the other approach: simply tell Washington to lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. This is a very bad solution, but there are times when it is necessary.

....

What the Obama administration needs to grasp is that it isn't the actions of these governors that makes it look incompetent. It's their own incompetence that is making them look incompetent. And tearing down others who are actually achieving things isn't an actual achievement.