[A.J.Armitage]

Is your belief that the general welfare clause is meaningless?

It's my belief that there's no such thing. Read it. It's the lay and collect taxes clause. There's no power to do whatever they think is in the general welfare. It's just that simple.

[AKbear]

Not only is it that simple, Madison wrote about it in several of his Federalist Papers, specificially #41. The general welfare clause it nothing more than an introductory clause to the following powers of congress.

[justshutupandtakeit]

...to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;...

You think this is not saying that funds can be raised to provide for the "general Welfare"? Says exactly that with all the slippery slope that it implies. If there is no prohibition on the expenditure of these funds elsewhere in the constitution such expenditures are not unconstitutional. Unwise or unjust perhaps but not unconstitutional.

The devil is indefining "general Welfare."