Politically correct interpretations of the General Welfare Clause (1.8.1) aside, Justice Joseph Story had used “poor laws” as an example of a power that the states have never given to Congress.
"The power to regulate manufactures, not having been confided to congress, they have no more right to act upon it, than they have to interfere with the systems of education, the poor laws, or the road laws, of the states [emphases added]. Congress is empowered to lay taxes for revenue, it is true; but there is no power to encourage, protect, or meddle with manufactures." —Joseph Story, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1, Commentaries on the Constitution 2
”[…] the care of the property, the liberty, and the life of the citizen, under the solemn sanction of an oath imposed by your Federal Constitution, is in the States, and not in the Federal Government [emphases added].” —Rep. John Bingham, Congressional Globe, 1866. (See about middle of 3rd column.)
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
The problem is that since the unconstitutionally big federal government keeps stealing state revenues by means of unconstitutional federal taxes, taxes that the corrupt, post-17th Amendment ratification Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers, the states must do the following in order to get back revenues that should never have left the states in the first place.
"Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States." —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
In fact, Justice Brandeis had used his “laboratories of democracy” metaphor to emphasize the 10th Amendment-protected power of the states and the people to experiment with different ways to improve the lives of their respective citizens.
"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose [emphasis added], serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” —Justice Brandeis, Laboratories of democracy.
H O W E V E R…
As a consequence of inexcusably widespread ignorance of the federal government's express, constitutionally limited powers, the states must now beg elite Democratic and RINO lawmakers to return their revenues, the states required to comply with unconstitutional federal demands in to order to get their money back, so that the states can better deal with the needy for example.
On the other hand, patriots might consider getting their friends up to speed with the federal government's constitutionally limited powers with the following argument based on the 2nd Amendment (2A) from a related thread.
Probably the main reason that elite Democrats and RINOs have been getting away with foul play regarding their unconstitutionally big federal government for the last 70+ years is the following.
Probably few patriots have a grip on the significance of the requirement for constitutionally enumerated powers for the feds to justify anything that they do. From above…
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
Pro-2A patriots, in addition to continuing to support 2A, also need to argue that the states have never expressly constitutionally given the feds the specific power to make peacetime restrictive gun laws, and many other laws and actions that they make and do.
Ironically, the 14th Amendment gives Congress the specific power only to STRENGTHEN constitutionally enumerated rights, including 2A.
Pro-2A patriots who accept this challenge, please report blank look responses to no federal power to make peacetime restrictive gun laws back to FR.
"The power to regulate manufactures, not having been confided to congress, they have no more right to act upon it, than they have to interfere with the systems of education, the poor laws, or the road laws, of the states [emphases added]. Congress is empowered to lay taxes for revenue, it is true; but there is no power to encourage, protect, or meddle with manufactures."Oh, well, so much for the Constitution. Thanks to FDR's Court Packing Scheme, within a few years the Supreme Court said the Federal government can regulate just about anything, even a cornfield.