BoatBanter.com - Congress still denying health care

Steve wrote:
On 4-Sep-2009, "Lu Powell" wrote:

Congress still denying health care

Congress has no authority to grant "health care."

Sure it does, ****-for-brains. The "tenthers" are just as crazy as the
birthers, teabaggers, and deathers.

As written by Henry Porter and recently reprinted in KOS:

The tenthers claim they are strict constitutional constructionists.
Based on their reading of the 10th Amendment, they contend this
administration in general, and health reform in particular, are
unconstitutional. Since strict constructionists approach the
constitution like fundamentalist Christians approach the Bible, I figure
the best way to bury this argument is to fight fire with fire. It's
time to get literal.

If you read the actual document handed down to us by the Framers, you
don't have to speculate about the original intent of the Founding
Fathers. All you have to focus on is the constitution's literal design.
When you do that the only conclusion you can draw is that universal
health insurance is an inevitable constitutional mandate.

Let me show you where it is written...

A lot of people at tea parties and town halls are busy screaming "We the
People!" They are like religious fundamentalists who scream "an eye for
an eye!" Neither is speaking in complete sentences, so they don't make
sense to anyone else but themselves. To make sense, you need to speak
in complete sentences. Fortunately for us, the framers of the
constitution knew that. Let's start at the beginning and review the
preamble to the constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.

The preamble is more than pretty prose tacked on to a complex legal
tool. The preamble to the constitution explains who is doing what and
why they are doing it.

Who: We the people.
What: ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.
Why: seven reasons are given

1. in Order to form a more perfect Union,
2. establish Justice,
3. insure domestic Tranquility,
4. provide for the common defence,
5. promote the general Welfare,
6. and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
7. and our Posterity

To deal with the tenthers you only need to focus on reasons 4 and 5.

provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare,

The meaning of that section is clear if you look up the definitions of
the words "common","defense", and "welfare":

Common
adjective

1. belonging equally to, or shared alike by, two or more or all in
question.

2. pertaining or belonging equally to an entire community, nation,
or culture; public.

[Source: American Heritage Dictionary]

Defense
noun

1. resistance against attack; protection.

2. something that defends, as a fortification, physical or mental
quality, or medication.

[Source: Random House Dictionary]

Welfare
noun

1. health, happiness, or prosperity; well-being.

[Source: American Heritage Dictionary]

That explains who, what and why, but the preamble says nothing about
how. For that you have to read the enumerated powers of the various
branches of Government. These are, appropriately, enumerated in
Articles 1 (legislative), 2 (executive), 3 (judicial) and 4 (states).
Note the first branch of government to be granted power is the
legislature. Article 1, Section 8 enumerates the powers of the Congress.

Article 1, section 8 begins:

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;

This section then proceeds to list several specific tasks Congress can
claim as its legitimate function. This section gives the Congress its
powers, but it is only at the end of this section that it explains how
Congress gets to exercise that authority:

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any
Department or Officer thereof.

Article 1, Section 8 is where it is written that congress has the
constitutional authority to make the laws our government needs to carry
out its obligations. While that power is necessary, it is not
sufficient for congress to carry out its obligations. That is why this
same section grants congress constitutional authority to raise and
collect taxes. Together, these powers are necessary and proper for
congress to meet its obligations and exercise its power. That is
sufficient justification for congress to exert these powers in the
course of executing its duties.

Given the clarity of this authorization it is hard to understand why the
tenthers even exist. Here's the 10th Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.

When you look at the 10th amendment, it is obvious that Article 1,
Section 8 renders the tenthers argument moot. Now that we know congress
has the constitutional authority as well as the necessary and proper
means to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare,
the question becomes historical. Has congress exercised this power before?

Of course it has.

It is no coincidence the United States Public Health Service is as old
as the United States Marine Corps. Both were created by Acts of
Congress in 1798 and signed into law within days of each other by
President John Adams, a Founding Father. This close connection between
public health and national defense was not something Adams cooked up by
himself. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson recognized the
importance of public health interventions as critical components of
national defense.

General George Washington protected his army from the scourge of
smallpox (a threat he perceived to be potentially greater "than...the
Sword of the Enemy") by requiring then-controversial smallpox
inoculations for new recruits of the Continental Army.

President Thomas Jefferson promoted vaccination throughout the country
and even instructed Meriwether Lewis to bring immunizations on his
pioneering westward journey to share with people in new settlements of
America.

Defending public health has been accepted as a central responsibility of
the nation's government on par with national defense since the dawn of
the republic.

It's ironic we have to look backwards through time to understand the
constitution because it was written for the future. Return to the
preamble and review all the reasons listed for why it was written. The
7th and last reason encompasses all of the previous six and secures them
for our Posterity.

Posterity
noun

1. succeeding or future generations collectively

2. all descendants of one person

[Source: American Heritage Dictionary]

Once you consider this seventh element, it becomes clear why this
instrument contains within its design the revolutionary concept of
amendment. The tenthers can cling to their notions and
misinterpretations as much as they like. It doesn't change the fact
that rights and protections granted to one group tend to expand over
time to include everyone else and their descendents. That's a logical
and inevitable consequence of the constitution's design. We saw that
for voting rights, property rights and civil rights. The right to basic
health care will be no different.

- - -

Now, Steve, you can head out to your next
birther-deather-tenther-teabagger meeting
and raise hell because you are really ****ed
a black guy is living in your white house.

Keith Nuttle wrote:
thunder wrote:
On Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:05:22 +0000, Steve wrote:

Congress has no authority to grant "health care."

The hell it doesn't. It's in the Preamble, right after "provide for
the common defence". It's "promote the general Welfare".
Promote does not mean provide.

PROMOTE:
1. To contribute to the growth, enlargement, or prosperity of (any
process or thing that is in course); to forward; to further; to
encourage; to advance; to excite; as, to promote learning; to promote
disorder; to promote a business venture. "Born to promote all truth."
--Milton. [1913 Webster]

PROVIDE.
1. To look out for in advance; to procure beforehand; to get, collect,
or make ready for future use; to prepare. "Provide us all things
necessary." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. To supply; to afford; to contribute. [1913 Webster]

Bring me berries, or such cooling fruit As the kind, hospitable woods
provide. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

3. To furnish; to supply; -- formerly followed by of, now by with. "And
yet provided him of but one." --Jer. Taylor. "Rome . . . was well
provided with corn." --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]

4. To establish as a previous condition; to stipulate; as, the contract
provides that the work be well done. [1913 Webster]

Get a better dictionary:

promote, v.

(prÉ™ÊŠËˆmÉ™ÊŠt)

[f. L. prÅmÅt-, ppl. stem of prÅmov-Ä“re to move forward, advance: see
pro-1 and move v. So obs. F. promoter to instigate (14th c. in Godef.).]

I. 1.I.1 a.I.1.a trans. To advance (a person) to a position of honour,
dignity, or emolument; esp. to raise to a higher grade or office; to
prefer.

1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 145 Ãže emperour i-smyten aÈen
promoted hym sone into a bisshop [L. promovit in episcopum]. 1401
Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 94 Preestes, wich to fatte benefices wolde be
promotid. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxxvi[i]. 34 He shal so promote the,
that thou shalt haue the londe by enheritaunce. 1685 Stillingfl.
Orig. Brit. iv. 167 Leontius his way was, to promote onely those in the
Church, he was beforehand sure of. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. Â§5.
140 Bonifaceâ€¥was promoted toâ€¥ the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

b.I.1.b Chess. To raise (a pawn) to the rank of a piece. (Cf. to queen.)

1803 [see promotion 1â€†b]. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 May 3/3 Compelled to
promote a Pawn to a piece. 1904 H. J. R. Murray in Brit. Chess Mag.
Dec. 466 [In Malay chess] a pawn may be promoted to the rank of any
superior piece, but promotion takes place, not when the Pawn reaches the
eighth line, but only after a further diagonal move.

c.I.1.c Sport (chiefly Assoc. Football). To transfer (a team) to a
higher division of a league (see promotion 1â€†d).

1924 Times 5 May 6/6 Bristol City,â€¥promoted a year ago, return to a
lower division. 1949 Times 25 Apr. 6/2 (heading) Swansea Town promoted.

d.I.1.d Curling. To move (another stone) forward by striking.

1937 T. Henderson Lockerbie 58 He left the stone aloneâ€¥deeming it
safer play to promote the Minister's stone.

e.I.1.e Bridge. To establish (a relatively low card) as a winner; to
secure (a trick) by this action.

1959 Listener 31 Dec. 1178/3 A further spade lead will promote the
nine of diamonds. Ibid., The fifth heart will promote one of North's
trumps. 1962 Ibid. 12 Apr. 662/2 The defence would take two rounds of
clubs and play a third club, promoting a trick for West's nine of hearts.

2. a.I.2.a To further the growth, development, progress, or
establishment of (anything); to help forward (a process or result); to
further, advance, encourage. (Formerly also with on.) spec. to further
the sale of (an article) by advertising or other modes of publicity; to
publicize (a venture, person, etc.). Also absol.

1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) Câ€†vj/1 Such rascolde drames promoted
by Thais,â€¥Or by suche other newe forged Muses nine. 1526 Pilgr. Perf.
(W. de W. 1531) 12â€†b, This gyfte expelleth all vyce, and promoteth all
vertue. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 236 The Emperourâ€¥went
about to promote christian religion. 1644 Digby Nat. Soul iv. Â§5. 390
All the causes and helpes that promote on its impotent desires.
1698â€“9 (Mar. 8) Minute Bk. S.P.C.K., The Journal of the Honble
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1703 J. Tipper in Lett.
Lit. Men (Camden) 305 You will promote the Sale of it as much as
possibly you can. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 79 Vegetation
is promotedâ€¥by communicating to the earth the food of plants, and
enlarging their pasture. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 191 It could
in no way promote the national interest. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii.
Â§1. 60 Commerce and trade were promoted by the justice and policy of the
Kings. 1930 Publisher's Weekly 31 May 2732/2 The books all to be
individualized in appearance and fully promoted. 1965 Melody Maker 3
Apr. 7/3 With the group over here to promote their latest
recording,â€¥they could well make the chart. 1971 D. Potter Brit. Eliz.
Stamps x. 117 These packs are heavily promoted, with full-page colour
advertisements in the national press. 1976 National Observer (U.S.)
30 Oct. 9/3, I love chocolate-chip cookies, and I love to promote.

***b.I.2.b To support actively the passing of (a law or measure); now
spec. to take the necessary steps for obtaining the passing of (a local
or private act of parliament). ***

1721 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. III. 138 The parties concerned in promoting
this Bill. 1863 H. Cox Instit. 170 Many bills promoted as private
bills, largely affect public as well as private interests.

c.I.2.c Chem. To increase the activity or effectiveness of (a catalyst)
by addition of another substance; to act as a promoter of (a catalyst)
or in (a catalytic reaction). Loosely (passing into 2â€†a), to initiate,
catalyse.

[1920 Jrnl. Physical Chem. XXIV. 243 When more than one of the
components are themselves catalysts a difficulty presents itself in
choosing between â€˜promoterâ€™ and â€˜promotedâ€™.] 1930 N. K. Adam Physics
& Chem. of Surfaces viii. 280 Many reactions go on at the surface of
charcoal. It is a good catalyst for promoting halogenations. 1936 R.
H. Griffith Mechanism of Contact Catalysis iii. 82 The fact that a
substance may act as a poison to a catalyst, and yet itself be promoted
by that catalyst, is obviously quite possible. 1940 Glasstone Textbk.
Physical Chem. xiii. 1128 On an ordinary iron catalyst one atom only in
2,000 appears to be able to catalyze the reaction between nitrogen and
hydrogen, but when suitably promoted the proportion of active points is
increased ten-fold. 1946 Chem. Abstr. XL. 4876 The catalytic action
is promoted by a smaller quantity of BF3. 1947 Jrnl. Polymer Sci. II.
41 The presence of small amounts of relatively high molecular weight
mercaptans greatly promotes the copolymerization reaction. 1967 R. W.
Lenz Org. Chem. Synthetic High Polymers x. 270 N,N-Dimethylaniline
promotes the spontaneous decomposition of benzoyl peroxide, and this
combination can be used to initiate polymerization reactions at low
temperatures. 1975 P. H. Emmett in Drauglis & Jaffee Physical Basis
for Heterogeneous Catalysis 21 Why then is a K2O-Al2O3 promoter better
than Al2O3 alone in promoting an iron synthetic ammonia catalyst?

****II.II â€*3.II.3 To put forth or forward into notice or attention; to
publish, promulgate; to assert, advance (a claim). Obs. ****

1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxv. 230 The kynges nedes were put forth
and promoted as touchyng the kyngdom of Fraunce. 1555 in Strype Eccl.
Mem. (1721) III. App. xlvi. 139 The false surmised articles promoted by
Hugh Raulins, priest. 1563 Bonner in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I.
xxxiv. 342 That the oath shall be promoted in open place, where there
shall be a convenient assembly of people to witness the same. 1662
Stanley Hist. Chaldaick Philos. (1701) 18/1 An Intellectual
incorruptible pattern, the Print of whose Form He promoted through the
World. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing i, Gutenbergâ€¥promoted His
claim to the first Invention of this Art.

â€*4.II.4 To incite, prompt, move (to something). Obs. rare.

1450â€“1530 Myrr. our Ladye 27 The aungels of godâ€¥to helpe vs in time
of prayer, & to promote our prayers towarde god. 1646 H. Lawrence
Comm. Angells 80 The Angell keepersâ€¥promote to all good, oppose all evill.

5.II.5 To cause to move forward in space or extent; to extend. Obs. exc.
dial.

1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 274 None of them ever attempted to
promote their Empire beyond the bounds thereof. 1660 Boyle New Exp.
Phys. Mech. i. (1682) 16 Other eminent Astronomers would promote the
Confines of the Atmosphere to exceed six or seven times that number of
Miles. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing i, William Caxton (â€¥who
first brought it to Oxford) promoted it to London also. aâ€†1705 Ray
Creation i. (1714) 201 Francis Pirara promotes the life of the
Brazilians beyond the term we have set it. 1872 Spectator 7 Sept.
1137 â€˜Sure it's I will promote her for your honourâ€™, where the word
â€˜promoteâ€™ was usedâ€¥in its strict meaning of â€˜cause to move forwardâ€™.

III.III â€*6.III.6 To inform against (a person); to lay an information of
(a delinquency, etc.); also intr. or absol. to act as informer. Cf.
promoter 3. Obs.

14â€¥ Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 82 Taverners, tapsters of this
cittie, Shalbe promoted heare by me, For breakinge statutes of this
****rey. 1550 Latimer Last Serm. bef. Edw. VI Serm. (1562) 130 [129]
There lacke men to promote the kinges officers when they do amisse, and
to promote al offenders. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. iv. Câ€†jâ€†b, I am not
one that doth promote, why art thou frayde of me? 1596â€“1623 [see
promoting ppl. a. 1].

7.III.7 Eccl. Law. To set in motion (the office of the ordinary or
judge) in a criminal suit in an ecclesiastical court; to institute (a
suit ex officio promoto) by permission of the ordinary.

1681 H. Consett Pract. Spir. Courts i. ii. Â§1 (1700) 5 Its Official
[sc. of the Court of Arches] is the proper and competent Judge to take
cognizance of all Ecclesiastical Causes whatsoever not only at the
Instance of Parties, but also of his meer Office, or when 'tis promoted.
Ibid. i. ii. Â§3 (1700) 7 It is left to the election of the Plaintiff
to elect in which Court he will institute or promote his Cause. 1789
Sir W. Scott in Haggard Rep. Consist. Court (1822) I. 14 This is a case
of Office promoted [= ex officio promoto] against Thomas Calcott,
forâ€¥erecting tombs in the church-yardâ€¥without leave of the Ordinary.
1837 Lushington in Curteis Rep. Eccl. Cas. (1840) 601 Mr. Williams
[Vicar of Hendon], who promotes the office of the judge, has brought a
charge against a parishioner of chiding and brawling. 1849 Dickens
Dav. Copp. xxix, The office of the judge promoted by Tipkins against
Bullock for his soul's correction. 1889 Abp. Benson in Read v. Bp. of
Lincoln 11 May (Roscoe) 36 The archbishop's office was promoted against
him [Bp. Wood of Lichfield, 1681]. Ibid. 37 The suit [Lucy v. Bp. St.
Davids] was promoted ex officio before the archbishop. 1895 R.
Phillimore Eccl. Law (ed. 2) 837 In every ecclesiastical court there are
two modes of procedureâ€”the civil and the criminal. In criminal
proceedings the office of the judge is promoted, [i.e.] inasmuch as all
spiritual jurisdiction is in the hands of the bishop or ordinary, his
office or function is set in motion. Ibid. 956 The Criminal Suit is
open to every one whom the ordinary allows to promote his office, and
the Civil Suit to every one showing an interest.

IV. 8.IV.8 slang (orig. U.S.). To borrow or obtain (usu. illicitly).
Also to exploit (someone) for material advantage.

1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 457/1 Promote, to steal. â€˜We got to promote a
boat to run the stuff in.â€™ 1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice
97 If I hadn't been there, and begun promoting him for something to
drink that afternoon, maybe he'd be here now. 1941 Argus (Melbourne)
Week-End Mag. 15 Nov. 1/4 In Army parlance to arrange something is
always to â€˜tee upâ€™; just as to borrow something is to â€˜promoteâ€™ it.
1942 Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 226/1 You skillets
is trying to promote a meal on me.