The Constitution’s cancer clause

Published March 25, 2016 4:02am ET



The most carcinogenic words in American government have become the Constitution’s Commerce Clause granting Congress the limited power “[t]o regulate commerce … among the several states.” The Supreme Court’s interpretation of these seemingly benevolent words has allowed our government to grow its regulatory jurisdiction from a set of clearly enumerated powers to one of virtually unchecked authority — each regulation akin to spreading cancer cells eating away at our nation’s liberty and freedom.

The Commerce Clause was designed to provide a benign and limited federal power — to regulate and ensure the free flow of goods across state lines, i.e.,interstate commerce. Misinterpretation permitted that power to grow malignant to the point that it now extensively interferes with the overall functioning of the entire body politic.

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