[petercooper]

Unreal!

[exnavy]

The american sheeple are getting fleeced.

[supercat]

Constitutional provision: HUMAN EVENTS asked both FRA Director Steven Klum and public affairs advisor Warren Flatau what constitutional language authorized Amtrak. Neither answered the question.

Well, railroads originally played a major role in transporting mail, and thus probably have as much constitutional justification as other transportation infrastructure. Actually, from what I understand Amtrak actually does respectably on some routes, but politics demands that it maintain routes which are major money sinks.

[squidly]

I'm not going to complain about the U.S. Postal Service. My mail is in the mailbox six days a week, and for only a few cents I can send a letter clear across the country.

[RonF]

The Post Office is an interesting case in point. Certainly it's Constitutional basis is unchallengable. Many of the Post Office's services are already open to private competition. In fact, as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), the only portion of the Post Office's services that are closed to private competition is First Class mail.

And that goes back to the original intent of creating the Post Office. Unlike the model that a private business would use, First Class mail pricing is independent of location or distance. The question is, is it in the public interest to make people living in rural areas pay the extra price that it costs to serve remote and thinly settled areas? Or is it in the public interest, and worth a public subsidy, to maintain such service to such areas so that rural dwellers have a relatively inexpensive way to send mail and small packages? You may not think so, but it seems to be quite Constitutional.

[RonF]

In discussion here on FR, even those who believe in extremely limited government seem to hold that building and maintaining roads is a proper government function. Support of Amtrack is not too far a stretch from that. And if you are going to call subsidies of Amtrack into question, it seems to me that subsidies for road building used by the trucking and busing industries, and subsidies of airport building (and the airline companies themselves), competitors of Amtrack, also ought to be examined. What would Amtrack's financials look like if they didn't have to build and maintain the railroad tracks and crossings?

[Ken H]

Excellent! (although I would not have placed the Post Office on the list since the Constitution delegates that power to the United States)

I'd put the war on drugs on the list as well.

What is the constitutional provision for the war on drugs?

[Reagan Man]

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much."
President Ronald Reagan, March 28, 1982

[CathyRyan]

Did not read the article but to come up with only 10 (ten) they had to split hairs to come up with only 10 (ten).

[ThinkDifferent]

Fish & Wildlife Spokeswoman Betsy Lordan said: "There are three potential sources of constitutional authority: property power, treaty power, and commerce power. The commerce power is the one frequently used to defend the ESA. In fact, the constitutional basis for many environmental statutes, including the ESA, is the Commerce Clause, which grants Congress the authority to regulate activities that affect interstate commerce."

Huh, I guess the Constitution I've been using must be the abridged version.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Kay Ludlow]

The only subsidies the postal service currently receives are for retiree benefits (primarily for those who retired before reorganization) and for low rates for 'subsidized classes of mail' required by law - primarily non-profit rates and congressional mailings.

[Paulus Invictus]

Eliminate most of these give-aways and privatize others (The SS and PO, for example). Will it happen on a Pubbie watch? Naaaahhhhh! They will be expanded if the RATS get in power.

[balrog666]

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

[tahiti]

This is a great article. The author did a great job especially asking bureaucrats what the constitutional basis is for their existence.

Every federal law has two constitutional thresholds to hurdle.

One, does the power and jurisdiction exist to enact a law?

Two, if yes, then does the enacted law violate the bill of rights?

The power and jurisdiction for the federal Congress to enact federal laws comes from several sources:

Some say Article I, Section 8, Cl 1, the "general welfare clause." (Medicare, Farm Subsidies, National Endowment for the Arts, Education, Title IX, Amtrak, etc.)

Some say Article I, Section 8, Cl 3, the "commerce clause." (minimum wage, OSHA, anti-discrimination laws, overtime pay, etc.)

Article I, Section 8, Cl 17, federal jurisdiction within the boundaries of a sovereign state that the federal government lawfully purchases from a state. (forts, federal buildings, armories, mints, etc.)

Article VI, Section 2, ratified treaties becoming the "law of the land." (Endanger Species Act, Social Security, Migratory Bird Act, etc.)

Ok, so the Congress can name several sources of constitutionally granted power and jurisdiction.

But, many of these laws violate the Bill of Rights.

The Endangered Species Act violates the 5th amendment. (..nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.)

Minimum Wage Laws, Family Leave Act violates the 5th amendment.

Social Security is "voluntary" for U.S. citizens, mandatory for legal aliens.

Unfortunately, it is the modern interpretation of expanding the power and jurisdiction of the "general welfare clause" and the "commerce clause" coupled with the blatant ignoring of the 5th amendment to reign in this expanded power, by former and current President's (both parties), members of Congress (both parties), and the federal judiciary that has unleashed the federal leviathan into unconstitutional denying and disparaging of our personal and property rights.

[Coleus]

bttt

[Kay Soze]

Amazing.

The Martha Stewart oonvicted thread had almost 1,600 posts.

This only 27.