Lance

Which one of us is Alfalfa? And am I the only one who's concerned that so far Steve's posts are the most interesting? Where's the outrage?

Even when Steve writes a short post, he asks a question that would take a looooong time to answer.

I'm not quite clear on the punctuation in Article I, Section 8. Interesting use of the semicolon there. Is the list of duties supposed to be an exclusive list of what the feds can do? I think that's how it's been interpreted, and from what I've read, it's the second clause: "To regulate commerce...among the several states..." that's the basis for most of the spending we do.

Are there areas in which we haven't tinkered? I, of course, believe most things are better left to the private sector, including private charity. Not true for all things, though - police protection and road maintenance are better done by the government. I am also not opposed to a minimal level of government-run welfare, but only a minimal level. We'll keep you from starving and from freezing to death. That's it.

But we can't leave it at that. Even moderately well-off people are eligible for benefits. My family, for example, should not be eligible for the free and reduced lunch program, but we are. This has happened because the people have discovered that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury.