General Welfare Clause
Tariffs: The First Economic Battle Under the Constitution
The very first economic fight under the Constitution wasn’t over a national bank. It wasn’t over building roads or canals. It was about tariffs. This was, as James Madison called it, the subject of “the greatest magnitude” – demanding, he insisted,...
How Two Vague Words Were Used to Gut the Entire Constitution
“…do we live under a limited or an unlimited government?” To you, that question probably sounds naive because the answer feels obvious. But in 1792, Thomas Jefferson saw it as the moment of truth. Alexander Hamilton had just laid out his vision for the “general...
General Welfare Clause: The Truth They Never Teach
“It would be ABSURD to say … Congress may do what they please.” That was James Madison, obliterating the modern lie that the general Welfare Clause is a blank check for almost unlimited power. But that’s exactly how it’s treated and used today. The general Welfare...
Benjamin Franklin on “Doing Good to the Poor”
The federal government lacks any legitimate constitutional authority to establish welfare programs for the poor. Not only that, the federal welfare system fails in its promise to “help the poor” out of poverty. Supporters of the expansive federal welfare...