Why is the federal government so much larger today than the Founders ever could have conceived?
Judge Andrew P. Napolitano offers this assessment in his recent book, The Constitution In Exile (Nelson Current, 2006):
The feds have grown strong thanks to congressmen and senators from both major American political parties giving power to the government that is not enumerated, delegated, specified, contemplated, or even hinted at in the Constitution. Thanks to the dereliction of duty of the Supreme Court in sanctioning these unjust laws, just about every area of human endeavor and behavior is now regulated by the federal government “in the name of commerce.”
Napolitano reminds us that the Constitution limited Congress to 18 powers — a number that’s bound to surprise anyone who has not studied the issue.
