[tstarr]

In Verse 47, Bryan says, “The Congress may construe every purpose for which the state legislatures now lay taxes to be for the general welfare and thereby seize upon every object of revenue.” This line has echoed through American history for two centuries. To what extent was he anticipating the direct taxation that even then was forbidden by the Constitution? Was he anticipating that power would accrete to the center over time, and why or why not?

This verse really resonated with me. I can't tell you how many people I have talked to who seize upon the "general welfare" phrase to open up the floodgates to federal power and taxation. I believe that he was fearful of a government of elites gradually taking over and using such loose phrases as this as the justification for doing so. And he appears to have been correct.

[Publius]

"But it's for a good cause."

I hear it all the time, and it really infuriates me. I would recommend Steven Maikoski's Initial Points in Politics for an excellent diagnosis of this problem.