Originally recorded 11-19-2009:
Rob Natelson, a leading expert on the framing and adoption of the United States Constitution, offers a lesson on the general Welfare clause. He discusses the original meaning of the words themselves, the meaning of “general welfare” in the preamble, and the original meaning and understanding of the clause.
He also explains the taxing clause, the Hamiltonian vs the Madisonian view, anti-federalist concerns, modern interpretations, court cases which have turned its meaning upside down, practical reasons for a limiting view of the clause and the Constitution as a whole, and more.
Mentioned in this Show
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Claiming Almost Everything is “Commerce”
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