GetdClu, the 10th Amendment was gutted by the Civil War and the 14th Amendment. The General Welfare clause and the federal supremacy clause subordinates Art 1 Sec 8. Your points are interesting, were judged non-compelling long ago, and the Tea Party right is distrusted by the overwhelming majority of Americans. As the economy improves over the next year without the TPE help, those Tea Party freshmen will be mostly sent home next year. This country is not going back to the fifties.
Jake, I disagree with your assessment. I do not see that the 10th Amndmt was gutted by the 14th.
TENTH AMENDMENT: "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."
The 14th Amndmet was ratified in 1868 during the Reconstruction amendments. The broades of its goals was to ensure that the Civil Rights Act passed in 1866 would remain valid ensuring that "all persons born in the United States...excluding Indians not taxed...." were citizens and were to be given "full and equal benefit of all laws." (Quotes from the Civil Rights Act of 1866).
Four principles were asserted in the text of the 14th amendment. They were:
1. State and federal ciizenship for all persons regardless of race both born or naturalized in the United States was reaffirmed.
2. No state would be allowed to abridge the "privileges and immunities" of citizens.
3. No person was allowed to be deprived of life, liberty,or property without "due process of law."
4. No person could be denied "equal protection of the laws."
[americanhistory (dot) about (dot) com (slash) od (slash) usconstitution (slash) a (slash) 14th-Amendment-Summary (dot) htm
That corporations too are protected by "due process" along with being granted "equal protection" is an unintended effect of the amndmt, if that's the catch to which you're referring.
As to the General Welfare Clause, it has been misinterpreted for decades.
The GWC DOES NOT give Congress power to pass any law on any subject as long as it is for the general Welfare of the United States !!!
And here I refer you to my dear friend and mentor, Publius Huldah:
publiushuldah (dot) wordpress (dot) com (slash) category (slash) general-welfare-clause
First, you must learn what welfare meant when the Constitution was ratified: Welfare as used in the Preamble & in Art. 1, §8, cl. 1, U.S. Constitution, meant
Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government (Websters, 1828).
But The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1969), added a new meaning: Public relief on welfare. Dependent on public relief. Do you see how our Constitution is perverted when new meanings are substituted for original meanings?
Second, James Madison addresses this precise issue in Federalist No. 41 (last 4 paras): Madison points out that the first paragraph of Art. I, §8 employs general terms which are immediately followed by the enumeration of particular powers which explain and qualify, by a recital of particulars, the general terms. So, yes! The powers of Congress really are restricted to those listed herein above.
OUR FOUNDERS UNDERSTOOD that the general Welfare, i.e., the enjoyment of peace & prosperity, and the enjoyment of the ordinary blessings of society & civil government, was possible only with a civil government which was strictly limited & restricted in what it was given power to do!
11. OK, you say, but what about the commerce clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 3)? Doesnt that give Congress power to pass laws on any subject which affects interstate commerce ? NO, IT DOES NOT! In Federalist No. 22 (4th para) and Federalist No. 42 (11th &12th paras), Alexander Hamilton & James Madison explain the purpose of the interstate commerce clause: It is to prohibit the States from imposing tolls and tariffs on articles of import and export merchandize as they are transported through the States for purposes of buying and selling. Thats what it does, Folks; and until the mid-1930s and FDRs New Deal, this was widely understood. ***
12.Well, then, you say, doesnt the necessary & proper clause ["elastic clause" or "sweeping clause" ] (Art. I, §8, last clause) allow Congress to make any laws which the people in Congress think are necessary & proper? NO, IT DOES NOT! Alexander Hamilton says the clause merely gives to Congress a right to pass all laws necessary & proper to execute its declared powers (Federalist No. 29, 4th para); a power to do something must be a power to pass all laws necessary & proper for the execution of that power (Federalist No. 33, 4th para); the constitutional operation of the intended government would be precisely the same if [this clause] were entirely obliterated as if [it] were repeated in every article (Federalist No. 33, 2nd para); and thus the clause is perfectly harmless, a tautology or redundancy. (Federalist No. 33, 4th para). James Madison agrees with Hamiltons explanation. (Federalist No. 44, 10th-17th paras). In other words, the clause simply permits the execution of powers already declared and granted. Hamilton & Madison are clear that no additional substantive powers are granted by this clause.
13. The 10th Amendment states:
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.
So! If a power is not delegated by the Constitution to the federal government; and if the States are not prohibited (as by Art. I, § 10) from exercising that power; then that power is retained by the States or by The People. And WE are The People!
14. Our Framers insisted repeatedly that Congress is restricted to its enumerated powers. James Madison says in Federalist No. 45 (9th para):
The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people
.[emphasis added]
In Federalist No. 39 (14th para):
the proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignity over all other objects.
and in Federalist No. 14 (8th para):
the general [federal] government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects
15. In all its recent legislation, Congress ratchets up its concerted pattern of lawless usurpations. The executive branch and the federal courts approve it. Such is the essence of tyranny. They are ruling without our consent, and hence the federal government is now illegitimate. PH
*** See Justice Clarence Thomas concurring opinion in United States v. Lopez (1995). Justice Thomas opinion shows why those disposed to usurp attack him so virulently.
*****PH has given me permission to replicate her papers in order to educate and share information about our Constitution.
Jake, I doubt you or the media know the first thing about the thoughts and desires of the majority of Americans and, yes, our Constitution remains compelling and vibrant in the land if its birth. May more Americans grab a copy and learn its contents to become better informed so that they may counter naysayers like you. We don't need to return to any decade before; we just need to follow thru in the future and hold onto our foundational values like the ones delineated in our core documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence!
