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Originally Posted by dblack
To clarify, can you answer these questions (according to your interpretation):
If the post office power wasn't listed as a power, could congress vote to set one up under the general welfare clause? Why or why not?
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No. A post office requires certain legislative backing, not just money. I guess Congress could set up something equivalent to UPS or FedEx with just the power to spend, but not equivalent to the USPS.
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The power to set up a national bank isn't listed, could they do that under the general welfare clause? Why or why not?
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Yes and no. The problem here is that if there were no legislative powers, just spending powers, then none of the laws which permit banks to exist in the first place could exist. If we assume the existence of those laws, somehow or other, then yes, establishing a bank requires nothing more than the spending power. But there's no reason to do so, and without them neither the government nor any private agency could establish a bank.
It might be interesting in this context to look at what powers were invoked to set up the Federal Reserve. I'll get back on that.
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It makes perfect sense to limit the reasons a tax can be levied. What's so hard to understand about that?
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If you look at anything advanced as a (more specific) "reason a tax can be levied," you always get to some kind of thing the money is to be spent for.
Norrin, I don't feel like wading through another of your rants. Of course there are limits on the federal government. They may not be the ones you'd like to see, but they do exist.