Key Data: A new bill would allow President Obama to seize control of private web networks and Internet information in a state of “emergency” he also declares. Take Home: Presidents have never been allowed to nationalize private property, and they should absolutely not be allowed to nationalize information, the most private of property.

When unionized steel workers scheduled a strike in the middle of the Korean War, President Truman nationalized the steel mills to maintain supply for the invasion. Then, in 1952, the Supreme Court determined in the ensuing lawsuit, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, that the President cannot act outside of his “aggregate” constitutional powers absent an explicit Congressional grant of power.

Recommended Stories

If life matters, so do the midterm elections

November Social Security direct payment worth $994 goes out in six days

The parties have flipped on support for Israel