Kagan on Government's Power to Dictate What We Eat
Sen. Tom Coburn, a medical doctor and a Republican from Oklahoma, pressed U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on the limits of the government's power under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. He appeared to have the recently enacted Healthcare Law in mind as he questioned her.
The commerce clause, which is Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, enumerates as one of the "Powers of Congress": "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." This is the entire clause. How that translates into telling Americans what to eat is a head scratcher.
But the commerce clause's meaning is often stretched and manipulated.
The justification often cited is that the U.S. Constitution is a "living, breathing" instrument, meaning that its original intention and meaning can be changed to something that's not in the text at all to "keep up with changing times."
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