All Logic Necessary and Proper

If a liberal were asked to cite that section of the Constitution which specifies the power under which a given proposed law can be made, Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 would very likely be the most cited passage. It is the ‘holy grail’ of liberalism and the source of every well intentioned (and not so well intentioned) abuse of federal jurisdiction. To those who think government exists to solve every problem and run every life, it is considered a carte blanche from the Founding Fathers.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

How is it that we have social programs, federal education guidelines, environmental regulations and many of the other huge chunks of our government created in the 20th century? They come from the complete misapplication of Article I, Section8, Clause 18. The value of the various programs and regulations developed in the 20th century is a matter of debate. However, the unconstitutionality of those programs and laws should be obvious to anyone with a thread of common sense.

That passage from the Constitution grants the ability to make laws for carrying into execution the specific powers mentioned and all other powers enumerated for any other segment of the federal government. A very quick look at the specific powers mentioned shows that no power was granted to create social programs or any of the other bunk we invented 150 years after ratification. Congress has the power to do the following (Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1-17):

• To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
  
• To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
  
• To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
  
• To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
  
• To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
  
• To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
  
• To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
  
• To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
  
• To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
  
• To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
  
• To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
  To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
  
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
  
• To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
  
• To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
  
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
  
• To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings

After pointing out the lack of any enumeration of social manipulation powers in Article I, my usual conversations with liberals usually then take this form:

Me: Clearly, the power to create, fund and operate massive social programs is not mentioned in the list of powers granted specifically to the Congress.

Liberal: That must mean that the authority to socialize our country must be an authority granted to some other portion of the federal government. Perhaps it is in the executive branch.

Me: No, I’m sorry but it isn’t in there.

Liberal: Well, try the judicial branch.

Me: No luck.

Liberal: How about Article IV – no wait that is about the States and I don’t want to think about them having any power. Try Article V.

Me: No, that is the mode of amendment.

Liberal: It must be Article VI then.

Me: Well, the courts use VI to force the States to follow these ‘new powers’ created by Congress, but that article really reads, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof…shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” So far, we have yet to find any portion of the Constitution in which social programs, federal education guidelines, environmental regulations and other such ‘new powers’ are made in pursuance thereof.

Liberal: Oh, wait; I remember now. It is Article VII.

Me: No, Article VII is just about ratification.

Liberal: Try Article VIII.

Me: There is no Article VIII.

Liberal: Hmmmm. Ooooo, I FOUND IT! Here it is, “promote the general Welfare”. I knew it was in there.

Me: That’s the preamble – which is not a statement of powers and just as likely means that the people hope to promote the general welfare by limiting the scope of the federal government with the Constitution.

Liberal: You’re reading it wrong. Now be off with you whilst I comfort my inflated ego over a non-fat double mocha latte with light foam and a touch of freshly ground cinnamon in the company of my fellow intellectual elites around our daily circular reasoning session.

Of course, some of the liberals I speak to don’t bother with even trying to find the power. They believe that the very statement “all laws necessary and proper” can be taken at face value without reliance on any of the dependent clauses. Their position is simply that if the Congress feels something is necessary or proper (notice the change from ‘and’ to ‘or’), such a law can be made.

In that case, it is helpful to remind them that even if such a global authority may have been inferred from that statement, the fact that the Constitution was subsequently amended by the 9th and particularly the 10th amendments curtails that inference.

Some die-hard big government liberals will insist that the 10th amendment does not take precedence over the original wording of the Constitution. I suppose they also believe that the candidate who comes in second during a presidential election becomes the Vice President. By their reasoning, the 12th amendment would not take precedence over the original wording of the Constitution. I guess it must get confusing for them, especially at parties where arguments over whether or not Prohibition is in effect rage on.

The truth of the matter, regardless of what politicians, liberal ‘intellectuals’ or self-important justices may say, is that there is no possible way to faithfully read the Constitution and arrive at the conclusion that social programs, federal education guidelines, environmental regulations or any other such laws are constitutional. No such powers are enumerated anywhere in the original Constitution and that lack is defined by the 10th amendment to mean that they are reserved for the States or the people. Further, the ability to make all laws necessary and proper is limited by the constraint that they be made to support the execution of the specific powers granted to the federal government. Additionally, the preamble is a statement of what the people hope to accomplish by having the Constitution – not a statement of what one party of the Constitution is expected to do. Also, Article VI states that only laws made in pursuance of the powers enumerated in the Constitution are the supreme law of the land. Finally, no amendment has been passed that repeals the 10th amendment, turning over social legislation to the federal government.

Just once it would be nice if big government liberals would use all logic necessary and proper for carrying into execution an understanding of powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. I won’t hold my breath.