U.S. v. Butler

  • The Hamiltonian View: Congress's power to tax and spend for the general welfare is an independent, broad power
    • It is not limited to carrying out Congress's other enumerated Art. I pwoers
  • In this case: Court struct down the Act in question because it sought to regulate agriculture, an activity strictly reserved for the States to regulat
    • However, this strict 10A limitation has largely been abandoned
    • today, the federal government is generally allowed to attach conditions to federal funds to influence state and local behavior
  • Modes of Argumentation:
    • Hamiltonian View v. Madisonian View: no concrete consensus on what the historical view was
    • Not 100% sure what the framer intended—no established position to interpret under a strictly originalist argumentation