> “So what government services were citizens demanding from the constitutionally humbled federal government that they couldn’t get from their constitutionally powerful states?”
Mark Levin mentions the relevant factor is the large money creation machine via the Federal Reserve. The States have no such machine.
> “Also, I cannot figure out why, since FDR was evidently a popular president, he didn’t establish his social spending programs within the framework of the Constitution by first leading Congress to propose appropriate amendments to the Constitution to the states.”
FDR was not popular into his 2nd term. He swung to the right. And then the wars came. He had no mandate for amendments.
> “He instead made a fool out of himself by attempting to stack the Supreme Court with activist justices who shared his “great society” ideas.””
He threatened to stack the Supreme Court because they were declaring many of his New Deal Programs unconstitutional.
Obama and the democrats used the FDR playbook for Social Security nearly verbatim when they initially defended the PPACA Obamacare before the Supreme Court. They used FDR’s gameplan as a template for their own.
FDR had been selling his Social Security as just an old age pensioner program that was voluntary. But the Supreme Court was looking to strike it down but his lawyers argued in court that the Old Age Pension program (Social Security) was a tax. FDR knew and he remarked that he knew Congress and the courts would never reverse it if it was a tax. But he kept saying in public that it was not a tax.
Also FDR had social healthcare in the works to be launched but it was shelved because it became clear that FDR was pushing his luck. The democrats waited 75 years to get their social healthcare forced on Americans. The lesson to be learned is that the progressives never give up and are constantly looking for an opportunity to move their agenda forward.
As a matter of fact, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had discussed delegating to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate banking. But the issue was dropped, the states wanting such powers to remain unique state powers.
“A proposition was made to them to authorize Congress to open canals, and an amendatory one to empower them to incorporate. But the whole was rejected, and one of the reasons for rejection urged in debate was, that then they would have a power to erect a bank, which would render the great cities, where there were prejudices and jealousies on the subject, adverse to the reception of the Constitution [emphasis added].” —Jefferson’s Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank : 1791.
In fact, Alexander Hamilton’s national bank was arguably the first constitutional scandal, the feds stealing unique, 10th Amendment-protected state powers to regulate banking.
"He threatened to stack the Supreme Court because they were declaring many of his New Deal Programs unconstitutional."
Again, the states had never amended the Constitution to grant the feds the specific powers to establish FDR’s New Deal programs. So they were unconstitutional.
And as I mentioned, FDR didn’t lift a finger to encourage Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution to the states to establish his programs within the framework of the Constitution as required by Article V.
"FDR had been selling his Social Security as just an old age pensioner program that was voluntary."
Regardless that FDR’s Congress used the General Welfare Clause (GWC; 1.8.1) as its excuse to establish Social Security, President James Madison had noted that the GWC was not a delegation of power but an introductory clause for the clauses that followed.
"To refer the power in question to the clause "to provide for common defense and general welfare" would be contrary to the established and consistent rules of interpretation, as rendering the special and careful enumeration of powers which follow the clause nugatory and improper.” — James Madison, Veto of federal public works bill, 1817
"Also FDR had social healthcare in the works to be launched but it was shelved because it became clear that FDR was pushing his luck. The democrats waited 75 years to get their social healthcare forced on Americans."
Post FDR era activist justices and Democrats have wrongly ignored that state sovereignty-respecting justices had previously clarified that the states have never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate, tax and spend for intrastate healthcare purposes. This is evidenced by the following excerpts.
”State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress. [emphases added]” —Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
“Inspection laws, quarantine laws, health laws of every description [emphasis added], as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a state and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c., are component parts of this mass.” —Justice Barbour, New York v. Miln., 1837.
”4. The issuing of a policy of insurance is not a transaction of commerce [emphasis added] within the meaning of the latter of the two clauses, even though the parties be domiciled in different States, but is a simple contract of indemnity against loss.” — Paul v. Virginia, 1869. (The corrupt feds have no Commerce Clause (1.8.3) power to regulate insurance.)
“Direct control of medical practice in the states is obviously [emphases added] beyond the power of Congress.” –Linder v. United States, 1925.
In fact, note that regardless that federal Democrats, RINOs, corrupt justices and indoctrinated attorneys will argue that if the Constitution doesn’t say that the feds can’t do something then they can do it, the Supreme Court has addressed that foolish idea too. Politically correct interpretations of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (5.2) aside, the Court has clarified in broad terms that powers not delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate intrastate healthcare in this case, are prohibited to the feds.
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
The bottom line is that the 17th Amendment needs to disappear, and activist justices along with it.