Re: a dumb query? pls humor me
On 9 Mar, Steve Lamb wrote:
> judd@wadsworth.org wrote:
>> On 8 Mar, Steve Lamb wrote:
>> It is according to the US constitution. How well we are doing
>> it is another question.
>
> I'm sorry, but have you even read it? I doubt it, most people
> haven't.
>
Resorting to ad hominem attacks already? Of course I've read it.
> Amendment X
> The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
> prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
> respectively, or to the people.
>
> Furthermore the Constitution only mentions "general welfare"
> twice. Once in the preamble and once in what powers it delegates to
> Congress. In the section that it delegates to Congress it is again
> used as a preamble for what specifically Congress can and cannot tax.
> Guess what isn't on the list? Interstate commerce, international
> policy, coining money and a whole lot to do with the military and
> militias. That's it.
>
> Strict interpretation is that, no, the power for universal health
> care was not delegated to the Federal Government in any way so it is
> not its business to get into it.
>
But you know as well as I know that there's more than one
interpretation of section 8 powers, and of the framers' intent. For
example:
On the contrary, Sorenson's explanation is that (1) Madison perceived the
Preamble of the Constitution as prescribing a limited number of limited
ends; (2) the enumeration defines those ends more precisely; (3) the general
welfare and other clauses that make up the Preamble vest particular powers
beyond the enumeration, but only to accomplish the limited ends; and
(4) the particular powers thus vested can be identified only through an
examination of the enumerated powers themselves, in their relation to the
authorized ends. (http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj16n1-11.html)
And the US Supreme court has supported the interpretation that the
general welfare clause gives broad powers beyond the enumeration.
So my opinion is at least in line with current US law.
-Chris
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| Christopher Judd, Ph. D. judd@wadsworth.org |
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