Congresses Power to enact Healthcare Reform and other Laws - The Constitution

Do we have a limited government, or one that is only limited by what it can get away with? I would say it is the latter. I would also say that at least 80% of our representatives do not even consider the Constitution when they vote on legislation; they are more concerned about getting elected than upholding the constitution. So whose fault is this? Is it their fault, or is it our fault? Once again I would say that it is the latter. It is "we the people" who vote them into power, so it is "we the people" who are at fault, and until we wise up, we will continue to get what we deserve. So from now on when you write your representative in congress about an issue or an impending bill, you should ask them under what constitutional authority are they proposing or supporting the bill; what power do they have to enact such legislation? Early this year or late last year a woman was attacked by a monkey and nearly killed. So our congress in their eagerness to protect us decided to enact legislation to prevent an attack like this from taking place in the future. On Fox News there was a conservative republican who had voted against this legislation, and the interviewer was asking him why. The congressman said that he was voting against it because it didn't go far enough. He said the law only affected purchases of monkeys across state lines. He said that he was for an outright ban on the ownership of monkeys. He said that if a bill like that was presented, then he would vote for it. This is exactly the problem with our federal government. They think that they have the power to legislate over us when that is not what the constitution says. It clearly says in the constitution that congress shall have the power: "To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) [Washington D.C], [which shall become] the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings" The people and the States did not create the federal government to legislate over us. We only created them to do those things that the Sates and the people could not do for themselves. It is very clear if you read history that our federal government was meant to be very limited in its ability to run our every day lives. Our Founding Fathers were very aware of the dangers inherent in a centralized government with unlimited powers and they tried their hardest to design the Constitution to protect their posterity (us) from it. And now look at what "we the people" have done with what they gave to us. I do believe that they would be very disappointed at what we have done to subvert the Constitutional Republic that they left us with. We should be ashamed of ourselves. jbranstetter04 The Powers of Congress Under the Constitution, Congress has both specific and implied powers. These powers have been expanded through the amendment process as well as by Congress's own legislative action. Moreover, both houses are granted authority in certain areas. Specific powers Congress is given 27 specific powers under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. These are commonly known as the enumerated powers, and they cover such areas as the rights to collect taxes, regulate foreign and domestic commerce, coin money, declare war, support an army and navy, and establish lower federal courts. In addition, Congress can admit new states to the Union (Article IV, Section 3), propose amendments to the Constitution (Article V), collect federal income taxes (Sixteenth Amendment), and enforce protection and extension of civil rights (Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth amendments). Implied powers Implied powers are not stated directly in the Constitution. They derive from the right of Congress to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers. Located at the end of Article I, Section 8, this sentence is often called the elastic clause because it stretches the authority of Congress. The Supreme Court upheld the concept of implied powers in the landmark case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), ruling that the federal government had the right to establish a national bank under the power delegated to Congress to borrow money and control commerce. A more recent example of implied powers is the War Powers Act of 1973, which limited the ability of the president to send American troops into combat without consulting and notifying Congress. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/The-Powers-of-Congress.topicArticleId-65383,articleId-65448.html