[andyk]

And thus we ended up with a constitution built on compromise. Yes, no one disputes that. That does not mean that the constitution itself is written in a willy nilly, wobbly fashion that allows for whatever legislators want. It means that the concrete document created was done so over a period of time with competing interests.

So, do you think that TARP holds to the constraints of Article I, Section 8? Or, do you think enumerated powers are anachronistic? Or some other option? You seem to keep falling back to history, since scolding me that "both" Ryan and Obama had legitimate reasons for it.

[RobbyS]

No, I think that the limits are elastic. The problem with the way Obama does it is to push the elasticity beyond the breaking points. The liberal leadership really wants to limit all legal restraints on their power, the very definition of arbitary government, where the only limits are political. It is the corruption of popular government that Aristotle warns us about in his “Politics.” Our system is supposed to be that :mix” that Aristotle thought to be the best government. The Roman government was like that until after the time of the Gracchi. Then we get into that terrible period when the Republic fell apart and Rome ended up being “rescued” by Augustus Caesar.