Reply #1: Congress has specific authority to provide for the general welfare of the country [View All]

[TechBear_Seattle]

Article I, Section 8, which enumerates the powers of Congress, has as its first clause: "The Congress shall have power 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...." If Congress deems that social spending and environmental protections are necessary for the general welfare of the country -- and they have -- then social spending and environmental protections are constitutional.

If conservatives insist on getting pissy about the Constitution, have them consider:

Article I, Section 9, clause 2: The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. (No exceptions are granted for non-citizens or "enemy combattants.")

Article I, Section 9, clause 7: No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. (Blackbox spending is a violation of the Constitution.)