Powers of Congress

We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.

Ronald Regan – First Inaugural Address

January 20, 1981

 

Section 8 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence 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 Offenses 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; And

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.

Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791.

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.

Reason With This?

If this is the Arab Street I am guessing that reasoning with him is futile.

Thank You Liberals

The mid-term election is closing in and all talk is about the mess the country is in and it is the fault of either George Bush or the party of No. So, I started thinking about what liberals have done for me in the past four years

First - I am much more politically aware. In the past I have liked some presidents more than others, some I have disliked, but I always thought that our country could overcome a bad one. But the constant hate of George Bush and the Conservatives by the left became more than I could tolerate. My feelings of disgust increased every time one of these people spewed hate. It increased during the 20008 election and became worse daily. If President Bush wasn't blasted, then Sarah Palin was. The media took great delight in this, but could see no wrong whatsoever with Obama. I must admit that I could not believe people wanted Obama more than Senator McCain. I feel that the president, congress and the liberal lefts must really hate America, otherwise how could they be so happy to destroy it. So thank you liberals for making me increase my knowledge of what is going on in our country.

Second - My beliefs toward Christianity have increased greatly. I use to take it for granted. Now I realize that the liberals are trying to take that away from me. You can't criticize any religion, except Christianity. There is freedom of religion for every religion except Christianity. Display of the nativity scene is prohibited. Saying Merry Christmas is no longer acceptable. So thank you liberals for increasing my faith.

Third - I always felt I was patriotic, but now I realize how important our country really is. I was raised where the Pledge of Allegiance was something that was said every day before school with your hand over your heart and men removed their hats. Never were we told not to wave our flag, but it is perfectly acceptable for illegal aliens to wave the flag of the country they were fleeing. So thank you liberals for making me more patriotic and giving me a stronger sense of America while you try to destroy it.

Fourth - respect for our Constitution and the laws of the country that should be followed. Obama wants Supreme Court Justices that think the Constitution should be a document viewed only from their "life experience", not what our forefather wrote. So thank you liberals for increasing my knowledge of our Constitution and our laws.

Fifth - Racism - I thought America was past racism. I did not care if Obama was black, white or half- black half-white. It was his beliefs that were important. So we get the first half black president. Now I see as much racism as in the first half of the last century, but it's different this time. This time it's an excuse. Any criticism of the president is seen by liberals as racism. Any disagreement with liberals is because the opposing side is racist. Obama never mentions his white heritage - is he ashamed of the people that raised him to be what he is today? So thank you liberals for creating a more racist America.

It’s About Me

More Graphical Criticism

Somehow this eases my pain.

I Don’t Know The Man

Obama  was asked, by the press, if he had  ever met Gov. Ron  Blagojevich.
Barack  Obama: "I only saw Rod Blagojevich one  time .... and that was in the stands and from a  distance at a  Chicago  Bears Football  Game."

Rod  Blagojevich, Barack Obama and Richard Daley  during a rally in  Chicago , April 16,  2007.   (Photo  Reuters ) 

 

Other times they were NOT together.

Bulgarian Blue Jeans

P.J. O'Rourke in remarks at Radio Free Europe in Prague:

The free market is not an ideology or a creed or something we're supposed to take on faith, it's a measurement. It's a bathroom scale. I may hate what I see when I step on the bathroom scale, but I can't pass a law saying I weigh 160 pounds. Authoritarian governments think they can pass that law—a law to change the measurement of things.

The Soviet Union didn't collapse because of Reagan or Thatcher or missile bases or Star Wars: It collapsed because of Bulgarian blue jeans. The free market was trying to tell the Communists that Bulgarian blue jeans were ugly and didn't fit, that people wouldn't wear Bulgarian blue jeans — not, literally, to save their lives. But the Kremlin wasn't listening, and the Berlin Wall came down.