Roger Pilon ("Congress Rediscovers the Constitution," op-ed, Jan. 4) nails it when he cites James Madison taking to the floor of Congress more than 200 years ago to point out that he could not "undertake to lay [his] finger on that article of the Federal Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents" for the relief of refugees.
If Madison were alive and in Congress today, he'd note the absence of any constitutional basis for expending his constituents' money to pay off union buddies under TARP or to bail out banker friends who were directed (by Congress) to provide home-loans to those without financial means sufficient to make the mortgage payments.
And, without a doubt, Madison would have pointed out the absence of any authority in the Constitution for Congress to mandate that its constituents purchase health insurance.
Alfred Lindeman
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 