United States Constitution – Article I sec 10

Section 10 lists restrictions on the States.

Section 10

(Clause 1)

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

The power to make treaties is an Art II sec 2 cl 2 federal authority prohibited to the States. Nor are the States allowed to make Alliances or “private” Confederations with other states or countries.

Granting letters of Marque and Reprisal is an Art I sec 8 cl 11 federal authority denied to the States.

The power to coin money is an Art I sec 8 cl 5 federal power denied to the States.

No State shall:

States cannot “emit Bills of Credit“, meaning they cannot pass IOUs.

States cannot make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts. This has become a contentious issue. Some conservatives want to use this to get rid of Federal Reserve Notes – and the Federal Reserve. But then they want to turn around and pass paper based on gold and silver coins. They want people to write checks from accounts based on these coins, which negates their argument for getting rid of Federal Reserve Notes in the first place. It is also something prohibited to the states – by this clause. Checks, money orders, credit cards, debit cards, all of it would have to go away. Economic apocalypse.

These are things that are also forbidden to the Federal government:

• pass any Bill of Attainder,
• ex post facto Law,
• or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts,
• or grant any Title of Nobility.

(Clause 2)

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.

The states cannot tax imports and exports to generate revenues.

(Clause 3)

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Without the permission of Congress:

The states cannot charge for shipping through their waterways.

The states cannot maintain warships or a standing army in times of peace, or wage war on their own except in defense of invasion.

The states cannot make legal compacts with other states or foreign nations.

The Constitution does not allow the states to form subgroups of states.

<== Article I sec 9
Article II ==>

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United States Constitution – Article I sec 8

This section lists (enumerates) powers explicitly assigned to Congress. Some are also mentioned elsewhere in the Constitution. Some are more specific than others. This is not the complete list.

Section 8

(clause 1)

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Congress has the power to raise revenue by imposing and collecting:

• Taxes,
• Duties,
• Imposts,
• and Excises.

Note that Taxes were not included in the uniformity requirement. As the word “Excises” is followed by a comma instead of a semicolon, I take it to mean that this power to raise revenues is only for the purpose of:

• Paying the Debts of the United States.
• Funding the common Defense of the United States.
• Funding the general Welfare of the United States.

The big question here is just what falls under the umbrella of “general welfare”?

(clause 2)

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

Congress must authorize the borrowing of money. Pretty straightforward stuff. Of course, it comes with the implied mandate to maintain the credit-worthiness of the United States, and to repay borrowed money. The Framers would have known, they had the debt accumulated from the Revolutionary War to repay. One of the reasons for a strong central government was the inability of a weak central government to repay that debt.