Powers of Congress

Enumerated Powers vs. Implied Powers Expressed powers: also called enumerated; those explicitly granted to Congress in the Constitution Implied powers: those not explicitly granted to Congress in the Constitution, but are considered necessary to fulfill or execute an enumerated power Example: Congress has the expressed power to regulate commerce, so it has the implied power to create a minimum wage.

Article 1, Section 8: Expressed Powers Clause 1 - revenue, taxes, debts Congress can raise and spend revenue #1 source of income raised by the gov’t is taxes Federal taxes must be the same in every state Tax laws must originate in the House, but the Senate may amend them

Article 1, Section 8: Expressed Powers Clause 2 - borrowing money Congress can borrow money for emergencies Deficit financing = spending more money than is raised and borrowing the rest to make up the difference Public debt = all the money borrowed by the gov’t that hasn’t been repaid, plus interest

Why do you think the United States is in so much debt? Who do you think will have to pay for the debt that we are currently in? What do you think are some solutions to get us out of the debt we are in?

Article 1, Section 8: Expressed Powers Clause 3 - regulate trade/commerce Congress can impose regulations on interstate and international business Clause 4 - citizenship, bankruptcy Congress decides who and how people become citizens Sets up rules for people with major debt to get a “fresh start” by declaring bankruptcy

Article 1, Section 8: Expressed Powers Clause 5 - regulate money, weights and measures States can’t issue their own currency The reason we use the Imperial System and not the Metric System Clause 6 - counterfeiting Only the U.S. gov’t can’t print money Clause 7 - establish a postal service

Article 1, Section 8: Expressed Powers Clause 10 - punish piracy, crimes on the ocean Clause 11 - declare war Only formally declared war 5 times (last declared war was WW2) 24 undeclared wars have been fought with approval from Congress On at least 125 occasions, the President acted without the authorization of Congress (most recently in Syria) Clause 12 - raise and support an army Clause 15 - drafting of a militia Congress can call on citizen soldiers to defend the nation (the draft)

Game Time! Get into groups of 3-4. You will be competing within your group. You will get a set of cards. Shuffle them and place them FACE DOWN on the desk. The goal of the game is to MATCH an expressed power of Congress with its implied power in the form of a newspaper headline. Taking turns, flip over 2 cards. If they MATCH, keep both cards. If they don’t, flip them back over FACE DOWN and move on to the next person’s turn. The WINNER is the student who has the most cards by the end of the game. If there is time, REPEAT the game. Make you keep track of how many games each person wins. The student with the most wins gets a PRIZE. Note: You note only need to match the expressed and implied powers, but also memorize the location of the cards.