Judicial Review of Special Interest Spending: The General Welfare Clause and the Fiduciary Law of the Founders
Texas Review of Law and Politics, Vol. 11, No. 2, p. 239, 2007
44 Pages Posted: 4 Jan 2012
Date Written: 2007
Abstract
The U.S. Constitution's General Welfare Clause was intended to be fiduciary-style restriction on the purposes for which the federal government could tax. This article summarizes Founding-Era fiduciary law. It then suggests how modern courts could apply that law to enforce, at least to some extent, the requirements of the General Welfare Clause by voiding the least justifiable forms of congressional "porkbarrel" spending.
Keywords: constitution, federal spending, federal expenditures, porkbarrel spending, General Welfare Clause, fiduciary law, 18th century law, original understanding, original intent, original meaning, federal deficit
JEL Classification: K1, K10, K19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation