[mnehring]

Don't forget:
To promote the progress of science and useful arts

[Abcdefg]

Promote, not fund.

[uxbridge]

To promote the progress of science and useful arts

You forgot the second half of that provision:

by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries

[Greg F]

Ack! You can’t truncate sentences in the Constitution and retain their meaning. Full sentence:

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

[billbears]

To promote the progress of science and useful arts

And just how was Congress supposed to promote the progress of science? Oh yes....

>by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries

Doesn't say a thing about funding a government program whose sole mission the last 20 years has been to send an outdated bus of space junk up over and over again. Nor does it say anything about funding missions to the moon or Mars (which could be done more efficiently and effectively by private industry if allowed to).

And as there is an upside for those that advocate big government under the Republican party for their sacred cows, there are those of the Democrats that could use the same argument to claim promoting the 'useful arts'.

Hot diggity, crosses in jars of urine and paid for by your tax dollars. I'm sure there's some fool that thinks that would be art