In /Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. <http://supreme.justia.com/us/259/20/case.html>/ (1922), the Supreme Court reviewed a federal excise tax on profits from sales of child-made products. The Court said "the so-called tax is a penalty to coerce people of a State to act as Congress wishes them to act in respect of a matter completely the business of the state government under the Federal Constitution"* *(p 39), and:
...Grant the validity of this law, and all that Congress would need to do, hereafter, in seeking to take over to its control any one of the great number of subjects of public interest, jurisdiction of which the States have never parted with, and which are reserved to them by the Tenth Amendment, would be to enact a detailed measure of complete regulation of the subject and enforce it by a so-called tax upon departures from it. ...such...would...break down all constitutional limitation of the powers of Congress and completely wipe out the sovereignty of the States. (p 38) This line of decisions was overturned when the Supreme Court was packed with supporters of the New Deal in 1937. It provides a useful insight into the change of thinking that occurred and how it affects us today. * * -- Jon ---------------------------------------------------------- Constitution Society http://constitution.org 2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322 Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001 jon.rol...@constitution.org ---------------------------------------------------------- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]