Blanche Lincoln Demonsrtates The General Stupidity Clause

On the General Welfare Clause and Government Mandates.

Today CSN News reported that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) responded to question that Congress has the authority to force individual Americans to buy health insurance because the U.S. Constitution “charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people.” Of course, as CSN News reporter Nicholas Ballasy noted, the words “health” and “well-being” do not appear anywhere in the Constitution.

Blanche Lincoln is a "knucklehead" to quote Mark Levin. However, unfortunately so are at least 59 other US Senators and a majority of the House.

What does the Constitution actually say?

Article 1, Section 8 states: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."

Now, just what does "welfare" mean in the context of the Constitution and the times in which it was written?

From the 1828 Edition  - 40 years after the Constitution was written - of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language:      WELFARE, n. [well and fare, a good faring; G.]

1. Exemption from misfortune, sickness, calamity or evil; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; prosperity; happiness; applied to persons.

2. Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government; applied to states.

A clear distinction is made between welfare for PERSONS and welfare for STATES. In the Constitution Welfare is used in the context of STATES AND NOT PERONS. There is little similarity between welfare of the people and welfare of the States. The Constitution empowers the Federal Government with responsibilities associated with  General Welfare of the States - which at most means "Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government" and NOT the ability to force people to buy a product in order to supposedly "promote their General Welfare".


Blanche Lincoln is a Moron.