Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Where have all the conservatives gone?

That America has become the "policeman of the world" is not directly mentioned in our Constitution. However, Article I, Section 8, clause 12 it states that our government has the authority "To provide and maintain a Navy..." One of the first tasks of our Navy was to protect our trade in the Mediterranean Sea. In essence it was "policing" that body of water. Abortions? No, because there aren't any medical procedures mentioned in our Constitution. Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are necessary for our government to protect our country. Since the book that started Capitalism, The Wealth of Nations, was first published in 1776 we still had a mercantile economy. Capitalism became our economic system due to the fact that the resources for a Capitalist economy were in abundance. And no, healthcare does not fit under the general Welfare clause.

Wonderful! We strongly agree that there is a lot going on today that the Constitution did not address. I am curious, though, as to why the health of Americans is not a subject of the general welfare. Seems like purt'near a definitional situation.

What are the Constitutional limits on the General welfare?

What are the Constitutional limits on the General welfare?

I see... there are no limits, then.

And no, healthcare does not fit under the general Welfare clause.

On July 16, 1798, President John Adams signed the first Federal public health law, "An act for the relief of sick and disabled Seamen." This assessed every seaman at American ports 20 cents a month. This was the first prepaid medical care plan in the United States. The monies were used for the care of sick seamen and the building of seamen's hospitals. This act created the Marine Hospital Service under the Department of the Treasury. In 1802 Marine Hospitals were operating in Boston; Newport; Norfolk; and Charleston, S.C. and medical services were contracted in other ports

In Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, the Court sustained a tax imposed on employers to provide unemployment benefits to individual workers. It was argued that the tax and a state credit that went with the state’s tax were “weapons of coercion, destroying or impairing the autonomy of the States.” The Supreme Court, however, held that relief of unemployment was a legitimate object of federal spending under the “general welfare” clause, and that the Social Security Act, which also included old age benefits for individuals so they might not be destitute in their old age, as well as provisions for child welfare and maternal child health projects, was a legitimate attempt to solve these problems in cooperation with the states. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have not questioned Congress’s policy decisions as to what kinds of spending programs are in pursuit of the “general welfare,” and so numerous programs have been funded in such diverse areas as education, housing, veterans’ benefits, the environment, welfare, health care, scientific research, the arts, community development, and public financing of election campaigns. The Supreme Court accords great deference to a legislative decision by Congress that a particular spending program provides for the general welfare. Indeed, the High Court has suggested that the question whether a spending program provides for the general welfare is one that is entirely within the discretion of the legislative branch.

No, according to Madison, the author of it, the clause, like the rest of our government is limited. To limit our government is why they wrote our Constitution.

To determine what they are it is best to read what the author of the clause, James Madison, said about it. Alexander Hamilton's interpretation of it has been used to expand it beyond what Madison intended. Hamilton's interpretation is not reliable for three reasons.
1) Hamilton wasn't at the Constitutional Convention for the entire time it was in session.
2) Hamilton wasn't an active participant in the convention.
3) Hamilton wasn't a voting member of the convention.
Voting in the convention was done by states and a majority of the delegates from a state had to agree on the vote. The delegation form New York consisted of three men, John Lansing, Robert Yates, and Alexander Hamilton. Lansing and Yates were at the convention from May 25th to July 10th. When they left they never returned. Since 2/3 of the NY delegation was not there Hamilton was not allowed to vote on what was being debated. Hamilton was at the convention from May 25th to June 30th. He returned for 1 day August 13th and then returned on September 6th. The general welfare clause was debated on August 22 when Alexander Hamilton was not there. In that he did not participate in the debates of the clause his opinion of it not relevant.