Of the few things in the Constitution that are an outright pain in the ass the General Welfare Clause tops the list. I would like to spend more time on writing about other things like bogus and unconstitutional Supreme Court rulings that the States should openly and loudly not follow. I would like to spend more time writing words to persuade more people on the conservative side of the political spectrum to use constitutional arguments against Joe Biden rather than pointing out Jill’s rather poor style choices.
But damn it, the misunderstanding and misapplication of General Welfare keeps coming up. So General Welfare it is…again.
The words “General Welfare” appear twice in the Constitution. Once in the Preamble and once in Article One, Section Eight.
So, here is the Preamble, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.”
Here is the first clause of Article One, Section Eight, “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States….”
Just to get this out of the way, “promote the general Welfare,” is within the context of the Preamble. It means something different than “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States,” as in Article One Section Eight.
In the Preamble, which is not a legally binding clause, they are talking about the general welfare of the People of the United States. It is not specific as to how they planned to promote the general welfare of the People. It should also be noted that it does not say, provide for the general welfare of the People. It says promote the general welfare.
In Article One, Section Eight the context is specifically talking about the States themselves. The context of a non-legally binding clause where they are talking about promoting the general welfare of the People does not become context for another part of the Constitution that is legally binding and says specifically to, “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”
Shorter version: the Preamble says “promote.” Article One Section Eight says “provide.”
Promote, in the context of the Preamble, means to encourage the general welfare of the People. Provide, in the context of Article One Section Eight, means to pay for things that the United States needs.
This is a huge difference between the two and they are not interchangeable. So Article One, Section Eight stands alone in meaning, being both legally binding and specifically naming and limiting the things the federal government is allowed to tax and spend on.
In understanding any written words context is king. It always matters. As with any sentence if you subtract any words from it, or add any words to it, you change the meaning.
Article One, Section Eight is one single sentence. Certainly in most modern grammar it would be considered somewhat of a run-on sentence and wouldn’t get a good grade from my fifth grade teacher. It is specifically punctuated for a list of separate clauses though, which technically makes it okay. Here it is in its entirety.
“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”
I have emphasized two terms in it that cause most of the problems of understanding within Article One Section Eight itself. Again, you cannot add the context of the Preamble’s use of “general Welfare” to this. It’s not legally binding and is talking generally about the People. Article One, Section Eight is talking about the “United States.” Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming are States.
My aged grandmother, as much as I love her, is not a State. Neither is yours. Neither is anybody named Bill, Chuck, Ted, Betsy, James, Jane, Mary, Frank, Alex, Brett, Gwen, Nikki, Bob, Alicia, Janet, Joe, Victor, Greta, Fred, Todd, Scott, Debbie, Dusty, Marcia, Jack, John, Albert, Virginia, Dick, Larry, Curly, Moe, Shemp, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Mickey, or any other name of any person that comes to mind.
Thus the term “general Welfare of the United States” means these guys; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Not these guys; Bill, Chuck, Ted, Betsy, James, Jane, Mary, Frank, Alex, Brett, Gwen, Nikki, Bob, Alicia, Janet, Joe, Victor, Greta, Fred, Todd, Scott, Debbie, Dusty, Marcia, Jack, John, Albert, Virginia, Dick, Larry, Curly, Moe, Shemp, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Mickey, or any other name of any person that comes to mind.
Let’s take something as a valid example of how this is supposed to work. The Navy thinks it needs more ships. “To provide and maintain a Navy” is listed in Article One, Section Eight as a power of Congress. So the Secretary of the Navy goes to Congress and asks for more ships. Congress decides if it is in the “general Welfare of the United States” for the Navy to have more ships. If they decide in favor of it they then are allowed to “provide” the funding by “lay[ing] and collect[ing] Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence.”
See what I did there? I inserted something that is not part of the original clause. This is not a valid or legal thing to do.
It might be a good thing for Larry, Curly and Moe but it isn’t for the general welfare of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Now I happen to love the Three Stooges, as any intelligent freedom loving human being should, but I don’t think it is in the best interests of the United States for the federal government to take my money by force and give it to them as a reward for their poor life choices. However I would like to have some compassion for them. So let’s not leave them in destitution and do what we can to take care of them, okay?
The good news is that the Constitution does actually cover this. It’s called the 10th Amendment. Under the 10th Amendment if, say, Ohio, (because who doesn’t love Ohio, right?) wants to see The Three Stooges living in comfort in their old age, they can come up with a program to see them taken care of. That’s what States are for. If California doesn’t like the Three Stooges, as any liberal/socialist/communist/scumbags are prone to do, they don’t have to pay their money to the Stooges. See how that works? It's their choice!
The federal government, were they actually to follow it, takes care of the needs of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The States take care of the needs of Bill, Chuck, Ted, Betsy, James, Jane, Mary, Frank, Alex, Brett, Gwen, Nikki, Bob, Alicia, Janet, Joe, Victor, Greta, Fred, Todd, Scott, Debbie, Dusty, Marcia, Jack, John, Albert, Virginia, Dick, Larry, Curly, Moe, Shemp, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Mickey, or any other name of any person that comes to mind.
Most people have heard of this thing provided in the Constitution called the divisions of power. This is one of those divisions of power. If the federal government controls everything, that’s not a division of power. If powers are split between the federal government and all of the States, that is a division of power.
One way a small group of people control everything. The other way larger groups of people are in control of the things they think are important.
One way is totalitarianism. The other is relative freedom in a representative republic.
No comments:
Post a Comment