Yes, Health Care is in the Constitution!

Over the past year, one of the Conservative rallying cries about health care reform has been "The Constitution doesn't give government the power to provide health care!"  Well does it?

I've been reading the U.S. Constitution, and Article I, Section 8, which spells out the powers of Congress, states:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States...

So Congress has the Power to provide for the common defense and general welfare.  What does welfare mean in this context?   Probably not the way modern Americans use the word as a label for government assistance for the poor.   Dictionary.com offers the following definition for "welfare":

1. the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc., of a person, group, or organization; well-being: to look after a child's welfare; the physical or moral welfare of society.

Glenn Beck & Co. love to portray liberalism and progressivism as the antithesis of the Constitution.   It is not.  Not only does the Constitution say nothing about religion (other than a ban on official recognizance or prohibition), it also says nothing about how the economy should be run.   The Constitution guards against tyranny, not progressivism.  Despite what Beck & Co. say, they are not the same thing.