If all these intrusive federal government shenanigans are somehow justified by the 16 words of the “Commerce Clause”, maybe it’s time for the state-rights advocates to start thinking about a Constitutional Amendment to bring the Commerce Clause into the 21st century.
Since the 10th amendment didn’t seem to do the job, maybe the 28th would...
We’re getting kinda close to the .308 amendment, doncha think?
Yes! How about:
"The power of Congress to regulate commerce among the several States shall be limited to negative and preventive measures against injustices among the States themselves, and not for any positive purpose of the Federal government."
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That would put it in line with its original understanding:
For a like reason, I made no reference to the "power to regulate commerce among the several States." I always foresaw that difficulties might be started in relation to that power which could not be fully explained without recurring to views of it, which, however just, might give birth to specious though unsound objections. Being in the same terms with the power over foreign commerce, the same extent, if taken literally, would belong to it.
Yet it is very certain that it grew out of the abuse of the power by the importing States in taxing the non-importing, and was intended as a negative and preventive provision against injustice among the States themselves, rather than as a power to be used for the positive purposes of the General Government, in which alone, however, the remedial power could be lodged.
James Madison, 13 Feb. 1829
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_3_commerces19.html