The Constitution is the only document to which the free people of the United States agreed to be governed.
The Constitution. That is why it is called 'the law of the land.'
At one time this was true.
But not since President Franklin Roosevelt.
Here is a tale that compared the two versions of America....before Roosevelt, and since.
This tale took place before that presidency, and so it conformed to the law of the land.
1. "The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that originally ran about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route fromNew York Cityand the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes..... – because of this vital connection and others to follow, such as the railroads,New York State would become known as the "Empire State" or "the great Empire State"
Erie Canal - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
2. "The building of the Erie Canal and the politics surrounding it, became a landmark event in American economic history....almost all American wanted better roads and new canals- 'internal improvements' as they were called.....Building the Erie Canal was a splendid idea.
The only question was how to fund it: with federal spending, state funding, or by entrepreneurs?" Folsom and Folsom, "Uncle Sam Can't Count," p.56.
3. In 1811, NY Congressman Peter Porter argued before Congress that the federal government should fund the canal. After all, an Erie Canal would have national benefits, and not just commercially! It would encourage settlement all along it's length, and cause the Great Lakes to flourish.
a. But the Constitution did not empower the federal government to tax all the people of the nation for a road that mainly benefited one state.
Porter's bill failed.
b. But the War of 1812 added a national defense reason and the bill was brought back; Congress passed it in 1817.
"Erie Water West: A History of the Erie Canal, 1792-1854,"by Ronald E. Shaw, p. 39-40, 47.
4. As I said, this was before Franklin Roosevelt, so the Constitution was still in effect. On March 3, 1817, on his next to the last day in office, President James Madison vetoed the bill, saying "I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling the bill with the Constitution of the United States..."
He went on to make two significant points, points that successive Presidents should have noted:
a. "....To refer the power in question to the clause "to provide for common defense and general welfare" would be contrary to the established and consistent rules of interpretation,... Such a view of the Constitution would have the effect of giving to Congress a general power of legislation instead of the defined and limited one hitherto understood to belong to them, the terms "common defense and general welfare" embracing every object and act within the purview of a legislative trust." James Madison Veto of federal public works bill March 3 1817
This, from the leader of the Constitutional Convention; he, more than anyone, understood how the general welfare clause was to be read.
b. Don't misunderstand: Madison was in favor of internal improvements- he knew that the Constitution's design was that such projects should be undertaken by the state, or by private citizens.
"I am not unaware of the great importance of roads and canals and the improved navigation of water courses, and that a power in the National Legislature to provide for them might be exercised with signal advantage to the general prosperity."
...But he knew that the Constitution did not provide for such as expansion of the federal government..." I have no option but to withhold my signature from it, and to cherishing the hope that its beneficial objects may be attained [by other means]."
Ibid.
And that is the way it's 'sposed to be.
The Constitution. That is why it is called 'the law of the land.'
At one time this was true.
But not since President Franklin Roosevelt.
Here is a tale that compared the two versions of America....before Roosevelt, and since.
This tale took place before that presidency, and so it conformed to the law of the land.
1. "The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that originally ran about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route fromNew York Cityand the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes..... – because of this vital connection and others to follow, such as the railroads,New York State would become known as the "Empire State" or "the great Empire State"
Erie Canal - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
2. "The building of the Erie Canal and the politics surrounding it, became a landmark event in American economic history....almost all American wanted better roads and new canals- 'internal improvements' as they were called.....Building the Erie Canal was a splendid idea.
The only question was how to fund it: with federal spending, state funding, or by entrepreneurs?" Folsom and Folsom, "Uncle Sam Can't Count," p.56.
3. In 1811, NY Congressman Peter Porter argued before Congress that the federal government should fund the canal. After all, an Erie Canal would have national benefits, and not just commercially! It would encourage settlement all along it's length, and cause the Great Lakes to flourish.
a. But the Constitution did not empower the federal government to tax all the people of the nation for a road that mainly benefited one state.
Porter's bill failed.
b. But the War of 1812 added a national defense reason and the bill was brought back; Congress passed it in 1817.
"Erie Water West: A History of the Erie Canal, 1792-1854,"by Ronald E. Shaw, p. 39-40, 47.
4. As I said, this was before Franklin Roosevelt, so the Constitution was still in effect. On March 3, 1817, on his next to the last day in office, President James Madison vetoed the bill, saying "I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling the bill with the Constitution of the United States..."
He went on to make two significant points, points that successive Presidents should have noted:
a. "....To refer the power in question to the clause "to provide for common defense and general welfare" would be contrary to the established and consistent rules of interpretation,... Such a view of the Constitution would have the effect of giving to Congress a general power of legislation instead of the defined and limited one hitherto understood to belong to them, the terms "common defense and general welfare" embracing every object and act within the purview of a legislative trust." James Madison Veto of federal public works bill March 3 1817
This, from the leader of the Constitutional Convention; he, more than anyone, understood how the general welfare clause was to be read.
b. Don't misunderstand: Madison was in favor of internal improvements- he knew that the Constitution's design was that such projects should be undertaken by the state, or by private citizens.
"I am not unaware of the great importance of roads and canals and the improved navigation of water courses, and that a power in the National Legislature to provide for them might be exercised with signal advantage to the general prosperity."
...But he knew that the Constitution did not provide for such as expansion of the federal government..." I have no option but to withhold my signature from it, and to cherishing the hope that its beneficial objects may be attained [by other means]."
Ibid.
And that is the way it's 'sposed to be.
