COMMENTS ON CONSTITUTIONAL POWER

John Pryor’s essay on the Constitution (“Our national media misguide us on abortion decision,” April 11) was very thoughtful and expressed the belief that since the beginning of this government we have veered off course. He offered examples of increase of federal power at the expense of state rights.

However he forgot to mention other examples of this occurrence recently. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a division of the “unconstitutional” Department of Health and Human Services, definitely went beyond our Founding Fathers’ beliefs when it set standards during the recent COVID event. Each state should be able to determine what is best. If so, they could have recommended swallowing bleach or swallowing a strong light or not having restrictions on travel. Even some presidential candidates offered these ideas.

Another one he failed to mention is the Department of Veteran Affairs. Since each state has a National Guard, it is the purview of each state to take care of war veterans. During our Revolution there was no national army. No draft. States decided how many soldiers to send. If it worked more than 200 years ago, why not now? However, he did forget to mention some words in the Constitution. Perhaps if he did remember them he might have developed a different premise. These words are “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union ...” and Congress has the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.”

Oops, these words in the Constitution give the national government the obligation to take care of national issues and problems. Sorry, I can no longer use Pryor’s flawed account of history to support his thesis. He is on his own. — Harry Love, Bakersfield