Despite Nancy Pelosi’s declaration that you’re not serious if you question the powers of Congress to do almost anything it wants, a lot of Americans are asking where in the Constitution is there explicit authority to pass laws and spend money on a vast array of subjects. In this Cato@Liberty post, Roger Pilon takes up the General Welfare Clause, which most people suppose gives Congress the power to enact any law that it says would be good for the country. Pilon explains that the language was never meant to be a blanket grant of authority. Even though the Supreme Court has in the past read it that way, those cases (e.g., the case that OK’d Social Security) were wrongly decided and should not be used as precedent to excuse further unwarranted expansion of the federal government.
by George Leef