The Supreme Court held that the minimum wage law was constitutional because it reasonably regulated contracts to protect the health and welfare of workers.

This opened the door to regulate all economic activity, on the grounds of health and welfare.  It was Madison who said he saw nothing in the constitution that allowed the government to provide welfare. “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of government. It would puzzle any gentleman to lay his finger on any part of the Constitution which would authorize the government to interpose in the relief of… sufferers.”

Notwithstanding that regulating economic activity has been ruled constitutional, it seems that legislators have the opportunity to abide by the Madison principle.  Meaning that just because the barn door is open doesn’t mean you have to run rampantly through it, at least if you believe in the intent of the Founders when they crafted the abridgement of contracts clause.

Yes, we are long down that road.

While it is pretty clear legislators are mostly owned by lobbyists, they still have the opportunity to please their lobbyists and yet stay within the Founders’ construct.

I once sat on the budget committee of a small town in Oregon.  An item came up to assess a motel tax, a room tax, for the purpose of promoting tourism. I said, hey, this is not the business of government, if the motel owners want to promote tourism they should be and are free to do so.

The other eleven members of the committee, most of them businessmen, rose up in a roar to tell me that promotion of tourism was well within the business of government.

I said, well I’m going to vote against this item in the budget. I was then apprised that the budget was not a line item yes or no, rather a whole or none.  I said then I vote for none.

That was my last year on the budget committee.

The decision of the Supreme Court to allow regulation of all economic activity probably nullified the entire Constitution of the United States.

Image: Josh Hallett