A government of limited rights, or a limited government?

As I mentioned in my previous post, the abuse of the general welfare clause is a direct violation of our 10th amendment. So why is that bad, you still have free speech right?

Well, it is the 10th amendment which limits the powers of the government. This is a right most people don't even really know exists, and why would they since it isn't given.

As long as this amendment is ignored, and the general welfare clause is allowed to be abused, then we will continue to live under a government of limited rights, rather than a limited government. Because any issue than can be spun for the good of the people, can be construed as the "general welfare".

A fast food tax, which charges people extra money for fast food can be spun to be in the best interest of the people. As it influences them with money to eat better. But is that something Americans really want? Are the many other programs and departments created what they really want? In most cases, no it isn't.

Most republicans and independents who aren't in favor of the social programs automatically subscribe to likely the constitution, because they can see that the social programs are unconstitutional, and they currently are. Most democrats who are in favor of social programs will often site the general welfare clause as what makes it constitutional, without realizing that at the same time, their own broad general use of the term just allows for many things they don't like, and allows for other special interest groups to abuse the term for things they want. This is the major contributer of corruption in our government.

So how do you add those few social programs some americans do like, without abusing the general welfare clause that allows all those other bad things? By using the part of the constitution we are allowed to edit or amend - the amendments!

Abusing the general welfare clause.

So exactly what is the general welfare clause? The general welfare clause, is a clause in the articles of the constitution, that is manipulated to create all the social problems we have today.

The general welfare clause is located in Article 1, Section 8.

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"

You'll notice it says to provide for the general welfare. That is the general welfare clause. So, exactly what were the founding fathers referring to? Today, it is a broad term used for just about anything the politician can spin as being good for the people. From welfare, healthcare, education to numerous growing list of government departments. But did the founding fathers really leave such a big broad general word for us? It seems it goes against the theory of limited government as they can, and do, just about anything. Doesn't sound like limited government to me, does it to you?

However, if you look across the constitution, you'll find that term 1 other place. That place is in the preamble. The preamble of the constitution is the start of it, and describes the general purpose of the constitution.

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

So, right here it says that the purpose of atleast part of the constitution was to promote the general welfare. So, what part is it referring to? The part where it says it is to provide the general welfare, where it is today used as undefined? Hardly. The part of the constitution which defines the general welfare are the amendments themselves. And the general welfare clause of the articles, is defined, and it is where congress is given the power to ensure our defined rights are not trampled on.

So, what part of the constitution limits the federal governments ability to expand the general welfare clause beyond the amendments? This is right guaranteed by the 10th amendment, part of our Bill of Rights.

"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."

It is a direct violation of every citizens bill of rights - republican, democrat, and independent for congress to abuse the general welfare clause to remove the limits put on them. It is the violation of our 10th amendment right that has lead to our problems today. Reinstating the 10th amendment is the 1st step to returning our country to it's greatness. In future posts, I will explain how social programs can still exist.