Provide/Promote in the Constitution And Its Implication On Welfare

[retrorepublican]

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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."

With common defense it is pretty easy to see that by "provide" means funding and maintaining armed forces, bases, and borders.

However, "promote" (as in general welfare) is different than "provide." It neither implies funding nor maintaining, rather advocating. I think it simply means that the government should not do anything destructive to this republic's functionality or its people.

Does anyone agree with this? Does Paul have different reasoning for this?

[Hurricane Bruiser]

Well I do not see that statement as any type of grant of authority to the government but rather a general statement as to why a new government and Constitution was formed. Using that phrase to justify "welfare" is absolutely a mockery of law and sense.

[CMoore]

Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution:

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;

So Congress can TAX to provide for the general welfare, but they can't legislate for the general welfare. So they have to bribe the States to get them to do what they want. They can't tell the States, for example, that they have to lower the blood alcohol limit to 0.8 as the cut off for drunk driving, but they can say, "If you will lower the limit to 0.8, we will give you money. Otherwise we won't."