In other words, it was a statement of the general welfare of the country, directly tied to the raising money for defense.
Note it says “promote” the general welfare” not “provide for”. Hamilton knew exactly what he was doing. One of the roles of gov’t is to promote an economically friendly environment. Hamilton knew this and the gov’t does have to step in from time to time to make sure that this is the case.
This is where the government’s role as a regulatory body comes in. At the time of the writing of the Consitution, regulate meant to keep regular. Nothing extraordinary or unfair. Regulate did NOT mean “to run”. Read the Federalist Papers. Its all there.
Yes, the purpose of A1:S8:C1 is to delegate Power to Congress to levy certain forms of taxes.
In that context the phrase “to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;” has real meaning about why Congress may tax and even the logical limits on how much they do tax (i.e. not to simply build up a huge pile of swag as if they were Eastern potentates); but, it tells you nothing about the objects of governance (Appropriations, Rules, Regulations and other non-tax stuff) that are reasonable and legal under Law.