Washington: Are they drunk, or just stoned?

06. Apr, 2010 Written by: Ken Ivory

In light of the wave of extra-constitutional actions taken by both parties in Washington over the past few years (e.g. Bush years: individual stimulus checks, Medicare Part D, Bear Stearns pseudo bailout, Fannie/Freddie bailout, TARP; Obama years: Stimulus, Cap and Trade, unlimited Fannie/Freddie bailout, GM nationalization, Bank nationalizations, residential real estate nationalization, healthcare bill with student loan nationalization rider, etc.) it begs one to ask with respect to their constitutional authority for these actions: Are they all drunk, or just stoned?

None of the legislation or approval for these federal intrusions into our economy and our daily lives can be found in the plain language of the enumerated powers delegated by the States to the federal government in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Not to be deterred, however, both parties in power have relied on their own sweeping interpretation of the so-called “Commerce Clauseâ€