Thanks as always to The Other McCain, Pirate’s Cove, Whores and Ale and Bacon Time for the Rule Five links!

The Cato Institute recently brought us ten reasons to oppose more Imperial spending.  Excerpt:

Democratic leaders in Congress are moving ahead with a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill to expand entitlements. Both bills are fiscally reckless and fund activities that are the proper responsibility of the states and private sector. To hear most politicians tell it, though, you would think there are no downsides — and only tremendous benefits — attendant to federal‐​budget expansion. But that is not the case.

Here are ten reasons to oppose the infrastructure and entitlement bills.

By all means go and read the ten reasons.  It’s a well thought out piece, and makes a lot of good arguments against Imperial spending on a host of things.  But there’s one thing they miss.  The article concludes:

In sum, new infrastructure and entitlement spending would overload federal policy‐​makers, who are already doing a lousy job of managing the vast array of current spending programs. All the proposed spending is for activities that should be instead handled by states, businesses, charities, and individuals. When it imposes national programs, Congress needlessly crushes diversity and local democratic choices. Americans would benefit more from a smaller, leaner federal government that balanced its budget and focused on its core missions.

Again, all this is correct.  But here’s what they miss:

Nowhere in the Constitution is the Imperial government allowed to spend money on any of these things.

Anyone who has read these virtual pages for any time at all has seen my frustration at how the Imperial government has been wiping its ass with the Constitution since about 1860.  Maybe earlier.  Oh, sure, pols in the Imperial City will thump their chests and pontificate about the Constitution when it suits them, but they don’t really mean it.  For evidence, just look at all the crap they vote to fund that the Constitution doesn’t allow for – and therefore the Tenth Amendment prohibits.

To the Cato Institute, I can only say this:  You guys do some good work, but this time you really missed the forest for the trees.