Article I, Section 8. "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United states..."
The sole power for the Federal Government to tax and the sole justifications for uses of Federal taxation are summed up in the first sentence of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. I would submit that a majority of Federal taxation, and spending of that tax revenue, is outside the scope of the Constitutional authorization. Let's examine those two justifications and use of resulting revenues.
The first justification and use of Federally levied taxes is "to pay the Debts". The National Debt is currently at $19.96 Trillion. The last time the National Debt was paid off in full was 1835 under President Andrew Jackson. Since 1940 the Federal debt has only dropped year over year five times:
1947 (by 13.8 billion), 1948 (by 5.1 billion), 1951 (by 1.5 billion),
1956 (by 1.6 billion) and 1957 (by 0.4 billion). In the last 70 years,
we’ve only reduced the Federal debt 7% percent of the time. It’s been
more than 50 years since the last time the Federal debt was reduced. Every President (and Congress) since 1957 has added to the Federal debt. This makes you wonder when, or if, this trend will ever turn around. You would think, especially since the period after 1940 produced some of the greatest increases in national wealth, we would have taken care of the first reason for levying and collecting taxes! During the period of 1791 to 1849, the National Debt fluctuated between
$75 Million and $127 Million. By July 1889, it had reached $1.99 Billion. It took until 1949 to reach $252.7 Billion.
In 1982 under President Reagan, we saw the National Debt exceed $1.2
Trillion for the first time in history. August 1999 saw the National
Debt climb to $5.6 Trillion. Within the last two Presidencies, Congress and the Presidents have taken the National Debt from approximately $5.7 Trillion to $19.96 Trillion! That is an increase of $14.2 Trillion in just 12 years, with the national debt under Obama growing by about $9.3 Trillion, or an increase of 86%! So far, President Trump and this Congress have accomplished relatively little, as the concentration has been on dubious claims of "collusion with the Russians." Congress and the Presidents have failed miserably in paying the Debts since 1835!
The second justification and use of Federally levied taxes is "to Provide for the common Defense and the general Welfare of the United States". Current politicians view that power as seemingly all encompassing with no limitation whatsoever! Indeed, even our Founders had some differences in opinion. Alexander Hamilton supported an expansive spending power. In his "Report on Manufactures" (1791), he contended that the only limits on the tax-and-spend power were the requirements that duties be uniform, that direct taxes be apportioned by population, and that no tax should be laid on articles exported from any state. Many other Founders, such as James Madison, repeatedly argued that tax and spend did not confer on Congress the right to do whatever it thought to be in the best interest of the nation, but only to further the ends specifically enumerated elsewhere in the Constitution (a position also supported by Thomas Jefferson and later recognized by Hamilton). They insisted that Article 1, Section 8 does contain its own limitation, namely, that spending under the clause be for the "general" (that is "national") welfare and not for purely local, regional, or even individual benefit. President Monroe adopted this interpretation as well, contending that Congress's power to spend was restricted "to purpose of common defense, and of general, national, not local, or state, benefit." There are examples in both the First and Fourth Congress where expenditure of money as loans to manufacturers was judged unconstitutional, as was financial relief to Savannah, Georgia citizens after a devastating fire destroyed the entire city. Unfortunately, we now often see Congress insert vast sums of taxpayer money into bills that support specific states or causes such as Planned Parenthood rather than the general republic. We also see spending on social welfare programs directed at segments of our society, not society in general. Again, Congress has gone beyond the original intent and meaning of our Constitution. This financial malfeasance by multiple Congresses has ballooned our unpaid National Debt to the point where it, much less the interest on that loan, can not be paid with the current tax structure. (NOTE: This a paraphrasing of an explanation in "The Heritage Guide to the Constitution".)
If the American People do not bring our Congress and Government to heel and reverse the financial destruction they have caused, this Nation will become a debtor nation enslaved by the debt that irresponsible politicians have created without regard to its impact on future generations or the Nation. Lazy Americans who believe they are entitled to something more than basic freedom will soon find that debt will shackle them and destroy their freedom as completely as any slave master.
Stand strong, Patriots! No Compromise, No Surrender!
