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To: robertpaulsen
With a little imagination, one can justify total prohibition as Necessary and Proper to carry out the provisions of the Webb-Kenyon act.

No less an authority than Alexander Hamilton warned against such an expansive interpretation of the necessary-and-proper clause. In Federalist #33, he gave the example of the federal government restricting the power of state governments to tax, so as to preserve its own tax base, and said that a law like that would be clearly unconstitutional. A complete prohibition on alcohol in order to assist with a prohibition of interstate transport of alcohol would be highly analogous to his example.

Good night, I'll catch up on this in the morning.

248 posted on 12/18/2004 9:09:43 PM PST by inquest (Now is the time to remove the leftist influence from the GOP. "Unity" can wait.)
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To: inquest
"In Federalist #33, he gave the example of the federal government restricting the power of state governments to tax, so as to preserve its own tax base, and said that a law like that would be clearly unconstitutional."

Yeah, I can see that.

"A complete prohibition on alcohol in order to assist with a prohibition of interstate transport of alcohol would be highly analogous to his example."

How about, "A complete prohibition on alcohol in order to assist with a prohibition of interstate transport of alcohol would be highly analogous to the 1968 GCA and the 1994 AWB. (Ooh. robertpaulsen hits a home run.)

The 1994 AWB was challenged on commerce clause grounds by Navegar and Penn Arms, but the USSC rejected it without comment.

A statute banning alcohol would have worked.

259 posted on 12/19/2004 7:11:26 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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