10th Amendment is a bunch of baloney according to MSNBC
During an interview regarding obamas healthcare Governor Tim Pawlenty is asked for his thoughts. A brief clip is then shown of Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota wherein he refers to the plans of obama and says there might be a case to use the 10th Amendment. Some background on Governor Pawlenty: As Governor, he has balanced Minnesota's budget three times without raising taxes, despite facing record budget deficits. Governor Pawlenty's most notable accomplishments include proposing and signing into law significant new benefits for veterans and members of the military; enacting a property tax cap, eliminating the marriage penalty and cutting taxes; toughening the state's education standards; reforming the way teachers are paid through a nation-leading performance pay plan; instituting free-market health care reforms that increase accountability and provide tax credits to encourage the use of health savings accounts; and implementing a plan to Americanize our energy sou
While some may claim that the term "general welfare," in an authorization to raise revenue in the opening paragraph of Art. I, Sec. 8, could justify such Federal involvement; that notion will not stand review in context. There is little "general" about health services. They are inherently personal; inherently peculiar to the particular nature, needs and afflictions of an individual being served. Even a cursory glance at the other specific powers & functions addressed in the Section will reveal nothing functionally analogous to such overreach. All deal with functions that serve a purpose common to the interests of the whole people, in each of the several States--truly general in nature, never particular to those who suffer from a personal problem, such as an inability to afford something (here, insurance). Considering, also, the direct restriction on the taxing power in Art. I, Sec. 9, to prevent the use of taxation as a leveler of wealth & achievement; it is clear, indeed, that a program intended to equalize the medical resources of individuals, was neither authorized nor imagined. [Note: While the XVIth Amendment did change the Constitutional ban on a graduated income tax, it is confined to the power to tax. It does not extend powers or purposes, for which spending is authorized. Again, there is no suggestion of a power or function to subsidize any individual civilian's access to expensive health care.]