Federal Disaster Relief Is Unconstitutional

Earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes, oh my!

Is the world ending? Not according to Calvin Coolidge who insisted in his third annual message that we would always have natural disasters. They are as certain as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

What we haven’t always had, however, is federal disaster relief.

In fact, there was a time in the not so distant past that two presidents…two…vetoed bills that would have provided money to drought-stricken farmers and flood victims.

How mean-spirited and vicious!

Of course, this was before their opponents could show television commercials pushing granny off a cliff. Modern media has created quite a nightmare for those interested in originalism.

We are painted as heartless jerks who don’t care about the poor, the sick, the weary.

But that simply isn’t true. Neither Presidents Cleveland nor Coolidge said any disaster relief was unconstitutional, just federal disaster relief. The states could pony up the cash all day. It just wasn’t in the Constitution for the general government to do that. Cleveland even called the government the “General Government.” How refreshing.

In the modern era, this has become a political rather than legal question. You could say that about most federal laws. We don’t care about constituted authority, just how the press will portray us when the dust clears.

I am here to take on such nasty issues and give you a straight answer no matter what.

I address the question of the constitutionality of federal disaster relief in Episode 118 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

Also, don’t forget to leave a review of How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America at Amazon and for The Brion McClanahan Show on iTunes.

I also have autographed copies of the Hamilton book available on my website. They make great gifts for all of the Hamilton lovers in your life. Pick up one or several.

Tags: Calvin Coolidge, Constitution, disaster relief, Grover Cleveland