This was presented in a thread yesterday about charity extended by the U.S. to those countries affected by the tsunami.
Col. Crockett was correct in his conversion to the idea that congress shouldn't be giving away the peoples money in that they have no constitutional authority to do so.
On the other hand it is a long standing practice that will not be changed even though in many instances it has gotten completely out of hand.
Sure, it's gotten out of hand...& it's OUR fault! We refuse to elect people with the character & backbone of Col. Crockett into Congress (w/ the ONE possible exception, the very honorable Representative RON PAUL!).
It is up to us to make this change. Since the House of Representatives controls the purse strings, all we hafta do is find & ELECT enough members throughout the country into the House who will "just say no" to any & all unconstitutional spending. It's as simple as that--there is nothing the Senate, White House, Supreme Court, of MSM could do about it, because it's written in black & white that all spending bills must originate in the House.
Are we going to start doing that, or will we continue to vote for Representatives who will "bring home the bacon" back to OUR district, using our federal tax money for programs that benefit us or our local area? I'm not gonna hold my breath that it will be the former.
We agree.
Can it be long before "we the people" demand to all be made instant millionaires by the government?
I mean, with this unlimited taxpayers cash floating around, why not?
I'll be glad to pay you tomorrow for the price of a hamburger today. ;)
Congress has authority to give money to other countries. We have from the very first congress.
Those who think they know better than the authors and ratifiers of the Constitution what is constitutional are self-professed fools by definition.
Of course many miss the point that Davy is not talking about aid to foreigners.