"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Ed Huntress" wrote:

"Wes" wrote in message
...
"Ed Huntress" wrote:


[snip]

I'm a fan of less engineering. The power to tax is the power destroy.

I don't know where you got that aphorism, but it's a silly one. Of course
it
can provide the power do destroy. But without it, there would be nothing
worth destroying.

Daniel Webster and John Marshall.

Google is your friend: http://www.bartleby.com/73/1798.html

Joe Gwinn

Except that's not what Webster was arguing. He was arguing FOR federal
taxation power over the *states*, in McCullouch v. Maryland. He wasn't
talking about the value of taxation in general. Nor was Marshall, who
essentially quoted Webster.

The irony here is that the example you're citing is the origin of the
jurisprudence concerning the Necessary and Proper clause of the
Constitution, which says that the federal government can override any state
law that interferes with federal power.

As I said, of course it can provide the power to destroy, if that's how it's
used. Without it, used properly, there's nothing left to destroy. By taking
a quote out of context Wes has flipped its meaning on its back.

--
Ed Huntress