What are the special power's given to the federal government by the constitution?

Answer 1

Primarily:

- coin money

- conduct foreign affairs

- regulate commerce with foreign nations and states

- provide for an army and navy

- declare and conduct war

- establish a national court system

- make laws necessary and proper to carry out the foregoing powers

- and others...

There are 18 specific powers in all that are listed and specifically enumerated in the US Constitution, Article I, Section 8.

"Section 8 - Powers of Congress

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;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

Unfortunately, in the statements and clauses in the opening paragraph of Article I, Section 8, it uses the clause "...provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States". Supreme Court precedent has in past ruled in such a way as to take a broad interpretation of this clause and in fact essentially allowed the Congress to pass laws and acts that taxes us FOR ANYTHING.

Our founding fathers who wrote the constitution did not certainly have this intent. If they did have this intent, then Section 8 does not make logical sense. If they had intended to allow Congress to tax for ANY "general welfare" need, which can and has been interpreted as ANYTHING, then why provide a list at all. The founders would have just ended the first paragraph in Article I, Section 8 with a period and have on one "To" clause....and read:

"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."

Note the misplaced period, and elimination of the list of 17 additional specific enumerated powers in the quoted paragraph immediately above. This is NOT the way the founders constructed the US Constitution. They constructed this first paragraph with one enumerated power of taxation followed by a semicolon, and then, listing 17 more specific enumerated powers limiting what the federal government can do with taxes collected (and thus, what the federal government can collect taxes for in order to accomplish carrying out the [limited] list of powers granted to the federal government).

Our founders spent months on writing the US Constitution and anguished over every word and punctuation mark to help ensure no misinterpretations. Early Supreme Courts and other early scholarly interpretations have in fact misinterpreted the US Constitution and broadened the Congressional power to tax beyond what was intended.

We should also probably have an in-depth analysis of the third power (also referred to as the "commerce clause") to more fully answer the question posed here, and how this clause has also been misinterpreted, and thus, given the federal government the power to pass laws and control States and US citizens/individuals way beyond what the founders ever intended. But in order to elucidate past misinterpretations by the Supreme Courts of the past, one would need to bring in several of the Federalist Papers. Not only what the Papers say, but also why the Papers are pertinent to answering the question posed here.

The remaining 16 powers are fairly straight forward and have not been misinterpreted to any great extent by the Supreme Court and scholars. It is essentially...

1) the first power in the "To" taxation clause, and more importantly the the "general welfare" phrase in the "To" taxation clause, and

2) the third power and the phrase "...regulate Commerce...among the several states,.." in the "To" commerce clause

...that have essentially allowed the federal government grow way beyond what our great founding fathers ever intended, and...

...that have been so grossly misinterpreted in Supreme Court rulings that the government is no longer limited as our founding fathers intended. Remember that the founders wanted to severely limit the federal government since they had fought and won independence from an English federal government that was taxing, regulating and controlling individuals lives/liberties/freedom and colonies (states) commerce so significantly that they were willing to die first before submit to such an expansive federal government.

Answer 2

When you have a commercial glass door in your home, you need to make sure that you do all of the right upkeep. This includes sealing all of the cracks around the door so that no air can leak in or out. This will make your home much more energy efficient. You will be able to save money on both heating and cooling bills. The temperature in your home will be more consistent, so your home will be comfortable at all times. This is a simple thing to do to improve your home and save money at the same time.

Answer 3

if a power isn't given specifically in the Constitution to the states, it is a power given to the federal government

Answer 4

taxation, power to declare war and regulation of interstate commerce

Answer 5

Delegated