Get the Quote of the Day from James Madison
I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined... to be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce.
If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.
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, as rendering the special and careful enumeration of powers which follow the clause nugatory and improper.
Like to see the Quote of the Day in your Facebook news feed!
or try our advanced search
