What are we to make of Democrats who are actually threatening to undermine federal taxing and spending authority? California Governor Gavin Newsom declared on Friday that he might cut off tax payments to Washington if federal grant cuts to the state’s universities by President Trump become a reality.

Newsom isn’t alone. California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas says any cuts in federal grants to California are “unconstitutional and vindictive….we must look at every option, including withholding federal taxes.”

In New York City, where Democrats are holding a primary for mayor this month, two of the candidates, former state legislator Michael Blake and State Senator Jessica Ramos, are suggesting withholding the city’s federal tax dollars.

We’re strongly in favor of returning as much power to the states as possible in keeping with the forgotten 9th and 10th Amendments. These Democrats are grandstanding, of course, and hypocritical – after all, they supported these federal spending programs in the first place – but they are right that the federal government has usurped far too much power of the purse.

So maybe it’s time for a giant federal tax cut – which is essentially what Newsom is suggesting – and leaving the money in the states where it belongs.

At the very least, they are right that it’s time for a national discussion about how to devolve power back to “the states and the people.”