On Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:18:31 +0000, Doug Miller wrote:

In article , Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:46:45 -0500, Tim Daneliuk wrote:

From your postings here, I know you to be thoughtful and well read.
Please cite a single example in American legal history that would
ever lead you to believe any of this is the responsibility of the
Federal government?

How about "promote the general welfare"?

Please note that "promot[ing] the general welfare" is not among the powers
granted by the Constitution to the federal government -- and therefore is
"reserved to the States respectively or to the People".

The section you quote reads:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people."

Since the "promote" clause is in the preamble, it could be held to be
"delegated to the United states". But yes, there is room for disagreement
on the meaning and scope.

But those who claim to be strict Constitutionalists (wow, I managed to
spell that!) are somewhat akin to strict Scripturalists. Very few of them
cut off offending parts, and those who handle serpents are considered a
wee bit off in the head. Old testament rules don't apply well today.

Likewise, many of the Constitutional provisions that made obvious sense in
a lightly populated agrarian society where power rested on white male
landowners lose something in today's society. For example:

"No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein,
be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim
of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due."

Yes, it's been abrogated by the 13th amendment, but the verbiage is still
in there :-). But the ultimate argument is that the Constitution says
that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of what is or is not
constitutional. So by definition anything they agree with is
constitutional. It may be reversed in the future, but for now you and I
are stuck with it.

"The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under
this Constitution,..."

But