Posted on 09/04/2005 6:58:12 AM PDT by kellynla
WASHINGTON -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a member of the Judiciary Committee and an author of the Democrats' catechism regarding constitutional reasoning, soon will be questioning John Roberts. Herewith some questions someone should ask Schumer:
Does Congress have the power to require Americans to floss after brushing their teeth? Or to regulate the amount of homework children do each night?
The federal government's powers supposedly are limited because they are enumerated. As James Madison said in Federalist 45, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined." For seven decades, however, Congress has treated the Commerce Clause ("Congress shall have power . . . to regulate commerce . . . among the several states") as a license to do what it wants to do.
But in 1995, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was unconstitutional because what the act criminalized -- possession of a firearm in or near a school -- was purely intrastate in nature and its effect, if any, on interstate commerce was negligible. The principal dissent, by Justice Stephen Breyer, argued that a gun might produce violence which would affect the economy by, among other things, injuring the learning environment, resulting in a less productive citizenry.
Do you, Sen. Schumer, support that reasoning? If so, does not Congress have the power to promote a healthy and productive citizenry by mandating flossing and regulating homework? Does it matter to you that the original intent of the Commerce Clause was to ensure the free movement of goods and services among the states? Do you think that Madison, the foremost Framer of the Constitution, misunderstood the Constitution?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Will's column last week on the judiciary was awful. He has completely recovered with this excellent piece.
well we all have a hangover once in a while...LOL
You might as well ask those questions to a hog as ask them to Schumer.
well I checked and it didn't come up...
Not only mandatory flossing of teeth, liberals want the government to wipe every tear and most of the fannies.
Detective Sergeant Schumer will now have TWICE as many questions, or the same ones asked of two different people.
Another homer? Will has been in a deep slump for years. I stopped reading him.
Then don't. LOL
geezzzzzzzzzz
The function of government is to govern. "Them" will take whatever "us" are willing to relinquish.
To be fair, this should read, "and its effect, if any, on the interstate commerce that Congress was constitutionally regulating was negligible".
If some intrastate activity, commerce or not, does not have a substantial effect on the interstate commerce that Congress is already regulating, then that activity is off-limits to Congress.
The Supreme Court ruled correctly in the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 case.
Here's a question for Will: Do you think Schumer knows what a prime number is?
Or a rock.
Will used the right word "human infant". I hate the word "fetus". The abortion crowd has deliberately pushed that word and conservatives should refuse to use it. It is an insidious form of propaganda.
A fetus is an unborn infant by definition. A human infant is one who has been born. The term "fetus" was used before people realized that it was more than a mass of tissue.
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