The United States of America was not intended to be a nation-state like Germany or France are today. That is why the members of the federation are called "states" and not "provinces." A province is a division of a state, and the states would be called provinces if our founders intended us to be a nation-state. In a federation, the member states are largely sovereign, but they hand over some sovereignty to the federal government. As a matter of fact, US states were largely independent up until the 1930s. And until 1861, states could theoretically leave the federation.

But today, the people living in the US identify themselves as "American," and the federal government is only called such as a matter of convention. As citizens, we have been duped in to displaying our patriotism to the federal government, and we identify ourselves as "American" rather than "Texan" or "Floridan." Moreover, senators are no longer appointed by their state to represent their state, but are directly elected (defeating the purpose of federalism).

The federal government has become an evil empire that has subjugated the states in to provinces. I think the federal government should be substantially cut down to serve a more limited role. Let the states act independently and be responsible for the majority of public services. If a state wants to be a welfare state or ruthlessly libertarian, then they should be permitted to be so.