[An.American.Expatriate]

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Um - so, you tell me they have the power to raise revenue to pay for things - thats nice, but does not answer my question!

Where is the power to launch such "insurance" programs?

[Tolsti2]

The constitution gives congress the right to pass spending laws for basically anything it wants. There’s no specific limits that I’m aware of. The congress is the safety net (supposedly). And they get voted in and out.

The end result is the constitution gives the people the power to elect a congress that can then spend and how to pay for it.

If this wasn’t the case, you could easily take a case to federal court and not only get unemployment benefits banned, but obamacare, social security and anything else that’s not specifically listed in required services in the constitution.

Try it.