So I have been catching up required reading (spending some time with Mark Levin's great book Liberty and Tyranny and reading a slew of back issues of the Patriot Post) and am in favor of Congress passing the The Enumerated Powers Act, H.R. 2458.
This act would require "... that all bills introduced in the U.S. Congress include a statement setting forth the specific constitutional authority under which the law is being enacted. This measure will force a continual re-examination of the role of the national government, and will fundamentally alter the ever-expanding reach of the federal government.". Who could disagree with that? By the way, the above quote is taken from the website of Congressman John Shadegg who has proposed the Act.
How great would that be if every time a bill is introduced, it must have some "rider" that explains clearly the authority that Congress has to enact such a law. By the way, I can't find any place where Congress has the authority to take over Health Care. You say the "general welfare' clause? Quoting James Madison in a letter to Edmund Pendleton in 1792:
If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.
Source is http://www.marksquotes.com/Founding-Fathers/Madison/index2.htm
Congress can not do whatever it wants but has enumerated powers focused actually on a few things (like war). The states and ultimately We the People are the ones that have the expansive powers of the Constitution.
The Enumerated Powers Act, H.R. 2458 is a great idea.
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