When writing a previous blog about provisions in the NCLB mandating schools to turn over information to recruiters, I realized something: This issue would be a nonissue if the school districts simply refused federal money.

Then I got to thinking about the state of New Hampshire which has no highway seatbelt law because (guess what?) they refused the federal highway funds that were conditional on such a law.

While I am a staunch Libertarian and hate intrusions by the federal government in areas where they don't belong, I seriously am beginning to wonder how much of those rights we have simply ceded them in return for the promise of money. I would be willing to wager most of those rights have been sacrificed in just such a manner.

If this is the case, it means we have wrongly made a scapegoat of the federal government when the blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of state legislators and county commissioners. After all, the federal government is simply protecting its own financial best interests with oversight; something I would reasonably expect from a fiscally conservative government.

The power, then, assuming my thesis is true, is in refusing federal monies and taking responsibility ourselves. Yes, it will come at a tremendous cost to our communities, but as I asked in a previous blog, what is the price of liberty?

Think about it.