Chicago Sunday PM 19 August 2012
Voice of the People, Chicago Tribune
Gentlepeople:
A letter in the Sunday 19 August Voice of the people says
that recently announced Republican Vice Presidential
candidate Paul Ryan's “... best known proposal is to strengthen
Medicare by eliminating it for citizens who will become
eligible in 10 years.” Another letter refers to “...Paul Ryan's
budget plan which would include reductions in health care
programs for the elderly and poor....”
It would be useful if even one of these writers would point
out where in the US Constitution there is any mention of
'health', 'medical', or 'medicine'. Useful, but impossible, since
none of those three words appear anywhere in the Constitution
nor its 27 amendments.
The writers appear quite intelligent, so maybe they're thinking
of the 'General welfare clause'?
But do they know what James Madison, the father of the
Constitution, said about the General welfare clause, in
Federalist number 41: “Some... have grounded a... fierce attack
against the Constitution, on the language in which it is defined. It has been urged... that the power '...to provide for the general welfare of the United States'
amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power
which may be alleged to be necessary for the... general welfare.
Had no other enumeration ...of the powers of the Congress
been found in the Constitution than the general expressions
just cited, the authors of the objection might have had some
color for it... but what color can the objection have, when a
specification of the objects alluded to by these general terms
immediately follows, and is not even separated by a longer
pause than a semi-colon?” Following that semicolon is a list
of 17 congressional powers, from 'borrow money on the credit
of the Unted States' thru 'make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for for carrying into Execution the
foregoing powers....' No mention here either of health.
Medical, or medicine.
Arnold H Nelson in Chicago ah_nelson@yahoo.com
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