Procrustes Stretched
"intuition and imagination and intelligence"
The general welfare OF THE UNITED STATES.. as in the union.. not each and every individual and their personal needs...
Taking the statement completely, it is easy to understand
Have to agree with Dave on this one. Strictly speaking, I've always thought it was meant to be the welfare of the country, and not the welfare of the citizenry. Same with defense, of the country, but it's not the Government's job to defend me at all times from all threats.
How does one separate citizens and country? You can't have one without the other. No program can benefit the country and not benefit the citizens. To think otherwise is silly.
When one passes a program to facilitate clean air what benefits? The country? I did not know a country had to breathe.
A Foreign country detains a US Citizen.
The US Government is in some cases ready to go to war .. to defend the freedom and rights of citizenry of an individual.
Then 'general welfare of the United States' is the phrase. What is meant by the United States?
The United States, is a phrase used to encompass the citizens of all the individual states as a whole and separate unit. We have rights as US Citizens that trump any rights a State would want to enforce or deny,
The US Constitution as a document, was sent out to be ratified by the people as a whole. It was sent out with the request of an up or down vote. The framers specifically bypassed the state governments, the state legislators. The US Constitution was ratified by 'the people'