Congressional Constitutional Ignorance

How do you get around the constitution? Oily, expansive politicians merely ignore the original intent.

That's how our government justifies spending trillions on dubious schemes. James Madison predicted it:

“If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare,” James Madison wrote, “the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.”

And now $650 million of your tax dollars have built a monument in our nation's capitol dedicated to distorting the constitution's original meaning. Congress’ new Visitor Center decrees the Constitution isn’t a list of powers delegated to government by the people, but rather of “aspirations” Congress is expected to define and realize. The exhibit specifies six:

1. Unity (as in “a more perfect Union” in the Preamble, which grants Congress no power).
2. Freedom (based on the First Amendment, which begins with the words “Congress shall make no law …”).
3. Common Defense (from Article I, Section 8).
4. Knowledge (authority to promote public education, support arts and sciences, fund extensive research).
5. Exploration (to justify funding “curiosity and boldness” — like 4, this comes from a convoluted reading of the clause granting Congress the power to issue patents).
6. General Welfare (found in Article I, Section 8’s restriction of the taxing power, but taken here to mean “improving transportation, promoting agriculture and industry, protecting health and the environment, and seeking ways to solve social and economic problems”).

For a remedy to this nonsense, read Professor Keith Whittington's essay, How to Read the Constitution. Here is an excerpt:

What is the constitutional text? It is an act of communication, of instruction, from the supreme lawmaker within the American constitutional system to government officials. It conveys their intentions as to what power government officials would have, how that power would be organized, to what legitimate purposes that power could be used, and what limitations there would be on that power.

Who is the supreme lawmaker? We The People. And don't let your elected officials forget it.

http://blog.heritage.org/2008/11/27/for-visitors-a-capitol-scandal/

http://www.heritage.org/Research/PoliticalPhilosophy/fp5.cfm