A prominent historian and constitutional expert says a Democratic congresswoman from New Hampshire is "dead wrong" to suggest that "the Constitution did not cover everything."
Representative Carol Shea-Porter (D-New Hampshire) was asked recently by a talk-radio caller about the constitutionality of the Democrats' government-run healthcare plan. Her response has at least one constitutional expert wondering whether she has ever read the Constitution. "I would point out to you that in the Constitution it also does not say the government can build roads or should build roads," said Shea-Porter. "It also doesn't say the government should make sure the drugs are safe. It doesn't say the government should look at airplanes to make sure they are safe to get on. It doesn't say we should have a police force in Manchester," she continued. "So, the Constitution did not cover everything." Author and historian David Barton, the president of WallBuilders, says Shea-Porter's comments reflect her view that Washington government should run everything. He notes that both the Ninth and Tenth Amendments say anything that is not explicitly covered in the Constitution belongs to the states and to the people. "All of those issues belong to the states and the people. Healthcare is not a federal issue. It is a state and people issue -- the same with transportation. The Constitution does say that the federal government can take care of what are called the post roads -- those on which the mail travels -- but outside of that, states are responsible for their own highways, their own roads, their own county, local, state roads," he notes. "And her comment about, 'Well, the Constitution doesn't cover drug use and drug abuse' -- yes it does, and that is under the criminal justice issues that belong to the states." Barton points out that when they wrote the Constitution, the Founding Fathers only had three federal felonies that were crimes -- because that is what the Constitution allowed. Today, there are 4,500 crimes that are now federal felonies. According to Barton, Shea-Porter no longer sees the Constitution as a document to govern the federal government; she now sees it as the document to govern state and local governments, and the people as well.
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