Alexander Hamilton, the first treasurer of the United States, knew there was a better way for countries to become prosperous than by conquering others. What was his plan, and did it work? Dinesh D’Souza offers an assessment.
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The Legitimate Role of Government in a Free Society
6/16/21
by Walter Williams,
from Hillsdale Imprimius,
August, 2020:
What did the founders of the United States see as the legitimate role of government? To answer that question we should turn to the rule book they gave us: the United States Constitution.
Most of what they considered legitimate functions of the federal government are found in Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution, which says, in part: “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…To borrow Money on the credit of the United States…To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes…To coin money…To establish Post Offices and post Roads…To raise and support Armies.” The framers granted Congress taxing and spending powers for a few other activities, but nowhere in the Constitution do we find authority for up to threequarters of what Congress taxes and spends for today. There is no constitutional authorization for farm subsidies, bank bailouts, or food stamps—not to mention midnight basketball. We have made a significant departure from the constitutional principles of individual freedom and limited government that made us a rich nation in the first place. These principles of freedom were embodied in our nation through the combined institutions of private ownership of property and free enterprise, both of which have suffered devastating attacks and are mere skeletons of what they were in the past.