By Peter Boettke: Posted at The Austrian Economist
Christopher Warren published a book entitled Congress as Santa Claus in 1932. He put the following question to his readers:
If a law to donate aid to any farmer or cattleman who has had poor crops or lost his cattle comes within the meaning of the phrase `to provide for the General Welfare of the United States,’ why should not similar gifts be made to grocers, shopkeepers, miners, and other businessmen who have made losses through financial depression, or to wage earners out of employment? Why is not their prosperity equally within the purview of the General Welfare?
Since that time, the answer to that question by Republican and Democratic politicians has been “Why not?!” And the result has been a complete perversion of the Constitution and the meaning of the concept of the General Welfare.
