Good and Wefare Clause in Constitution?

When asked, Rep. John Conyers said the Health Care bill is Constitutional because of the "good and welfare clause." Wow, I must have an old copy of the Constitution as I cannot find that clause.



Most likely Rep. Conyers is refering to Article 1 Section 8 , specifically "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"
Now I believe that this refers to the "general wefare" of the United States, not the "general welfare" of the people of the United States. If the founders were refering to the people, I believe they would have written it that way.
In researching this further I found that James Madison, who was considered a major contributor to the Constitution, stayed alive long enough after The Constitution became law to fight against those who wished to use phrases from it to try and justify legislation like Rep. Conyers is doing today.

Being that James Madison was the founding father of the Constitution he addressed the words "general welfare" in a letter to James Robertson. “With respect to the two words ‘general welfare’, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.” James Madison also said, “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.” He addressed it again in a letter to Albert Gallitin "Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.” Now what did he consider "those specifically enumerated." In the Federalist Paper No. 45 he stated “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined . . . to be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce."

Unfortunately we have many government programs that are in effect today, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc. We have become people that will chastise any politician that stands up against an entitlement program even if it is truely unconstitutional. Those politicians that oppose entitlement programs are look at as calloused, mean, politically incorrect men/women that don't want to help those less fortunate. Many of our fellow Americans have come to accept that it is our "right" to live at the expense of others. They feel it is okay to tax "those that have money" to pay for their lifestyle. We can only blame ourselves as we have let this procede for the last 50+ years.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe that we should just give up, but we are fighting an uphill battle. We need to go to the polls in November and let our voices be heard.
Remember this quote from Karl Marx, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Isn't that the way we are heading, taking from those that have the ability to give (whether they want to give) and giving to those that need? As long as we have freeloaders going to the polls in higher numbers than us, we will continue heading down this socialist path.