The Constitution actually says "...to promote the general welfare", and it doesn't mean what you apparently think it means.
Quoting the Tenth Amendment, Jefferson wrote: I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people. To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.
The authority of the goverment to "promote the general welfare" is limited to the enumerated powers, and nothing else.
Funny how many people here (and I believe this includes you) that quote a writing of Jefferson's and want it accepted as gospel truth when it fits their beliefs, but completely want to ignore what Jefferson wrote about the separation of church and state. It is even more interesting when you consider that Jefferson was not involved in the writing of the Constitution (he was in France at the time), though his ideas (according to Madison, specifically the law Jefferson wrote to give religious freedom in Virginia) were the basis for the religion clause of the first amendment.
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