We have said that Congress may regulate not only 'Commerce…among the several states,'…but also anything that has a 'substantial effect' on such commerce. This test, if taken to its logical extreme, would give Congress a 'police power' over all aspects of American life.
Under our jurisprudence, if Congress passed an omnibus 'substantially affects interstate commerce' statute, purporting to regulate every aspect of human existence, the Act apparently would be constitutional.
Justice Thomas went on to state that under the substantially affects interstate commerce test adopted by the Court, "[c]ongress can regulate whole categories of activities that are not themselves either 'interstate or commerce.'"
But why does not Justice Thomas go on to state that the founding fathers had put into the Constitution the presumed "fail safe" protection against this type of Congressional attack on our rights through regulation: The Bill of Rights.
Yes, let's assume that Congress has the "delegated power" to regulate "whole categories of activities" via the commerce clause.
These regulations still have to stand up to the test of constitutionality with regards to the Bill of Rights.
For example, everyone accepts the regulations that have been imposed on business entities over the years, including the business of publishing books and newspapers.
However, no one accepts that the power to regulate includes "regulating" the content of what the publishers print because it is a violation of the 1st amendment:
"Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom...of the press..."
I ask Justice Thomas why the 2nd amendment (...right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed), the 5th amendment (...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation), the 9th amendment(...shall not be construed to deny or disparage others [rights] retained by the people), and possibly the 10th amendment (...powers not delegated...reserved to...the people) are not invoked by the Supreme Court to invalidate as unconstitutional many if not all of the federal regulations to prevent Congress from having "...police power over all aspects of American life?"