taxes and spend money to promote the general welfare here's what one of our actual founders alexander hamilton who helped write the constitution had to say about the general welfare clause it was in the twenty first part of his report to congress on how to build a strong manufacturing sector he wrote this in seven hundred ninety one when he was george washington's secretary of the treasury he wrote the terms general welfare were doubtless doubtless intended to signify more than was expressed or imported in those which preceded the phrase is as comprehensive as any of that could have been used because it was not fit that the constitutional authority of the union to appropriate its revenues should have been restricted within narrower limits than the general welfare it is therefore of necessity left to the loo to the discretion of the national legislature hamilton continued to pronounce upon the objects which concern the general welfare and for which under that description an appropriation of money is requisite and proper end of quote since then general welfare is included everything from thomas

alexander hamilton eleven point plan was not totally scrapped at least dented badly terrorists were ditched and then bill clinton moved into the white house in the one nine hundred ninety s. continued reagan's trade policies and then even went even further committed the united states to so-called free trade agreements like gatt nafta and joining the deputy o. removing virtually all the protections that had kept our domestic manufacturing industries safe from foreign corporate predators for two hundred years in the one nine hundred ninety two presidential debate third party candidate ross perot famously warned about a jar and sucking sound of american jobs going south of the border to low wage nations. first i have to do is get all these folks we've got these want to trade agreements that we've negotiated over the years and say fellows will fight the same deal we gave you. and they are good rock right at that point we have got to stop sending jobs overseas there will be a job sucking sound going south perot was right but no one in our government listened to it in the one nine hundred sixty s

. >> an atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics by alexander hamilton of whom jefferson respondeder saying that they were daily pitted in the cabinet like two cocks constantly at each other. >> jon: sure. (laughter) that will happen in a cabinet. (laughter) >> pressing on -- >> jon: please. (laughter) am i soiling your pulitzer. (laughter) i'm getting a little tarnish on your pulitzer. >> please don't say "soil." (laughter) as a favor. >> jon: you give as good as you get there. >> as a favor, baby. and then skwrofr son responded by saying he declined to have his reputation slandered by a man for whom history from the moment history could stoop to notice him-- with hamilton, who was an illegitimate child-- had not only received his -- received him into the country but had heaped his honors on his head. and all that hamilton had done to repay for this was to issue a tissue of machinations against the liberty of the country. >> jon: wow! >> so it was fun. i know that we think -- >> the snaps that these guys delivered! (laughter) on each other. >> it was good. >> jon: they were at suc

." >>> from alexander hamilton to alexander graham bell, american innovation has been fueled by immigrants. icons of modern american innovation, companies like google. intel and e-bay were founded by men and women who were born outside the u.s. some of the most successful life sciences companies, pfizer, merck were founded by immigrants. and america continues to lead the world in biotechnology driven by scientists and executives from around the world. now this pipeline of innovators is being choked by immigration policies that force many foreign born graduates of u.s. universities to leave after completing years of

on the other hand they knew they needed somebody who could act with what alexander hamilton wrote in one of the federalist papers, vigor, and he meant energy, dispatch, secrecy, someone who could respond to a crisis. at the time when there was a congratulations, the constitution -- the articles of confederation, that congress under the articles meant there was a lot of debate and a lot of dithering but nobody to take charge. they knew they needed both but were also very concerned with the separation of power. i think it's fair to say that in the course of that 225 years since then, since they kind of invented or perhaps improvised the presidency is a better word -- that there's been a tremendous change in the office. obviously every president from washington on has taken certain powers for himself. sometimes congress has resisted. the pendulum has swung back and forth. we could go down the list, executive orders, signing statements, the war powers, all of these things were far, far beyond, i think, what most of the founders would have envisioned, but that's the way the democracy and

i love alexander hamilton.cing senators to talk when the filibuster doesn't do anything about that problem, and that means it doesn't do anything about the central problem that keeps real majority from governing today. we can't have a political system in which even when the american people vote twice in a row to give one party the power to pursue its agenda, the minority is still able to make them fail. that is a system in which democratic accountability not to mention the ability to govern effectively breaks down. it is a system in which voters think they gave power to somebody to make the country better, to enact an agenda and when that party, be it republican or democrat isn't able to get the job done, they think that party failed them and they become that much more disillusioned even though it was minority obstruction that kept bills from passing. look, i would like to see both parties end the filibuster cooperatively and now would be a good time to do it. we have divided government. it won't mean one party

c-span: what about alexander hamilton and thomas jefferson? if they were sitting here today and we're having these discussions, would they differ on anything? >> guest: obviously, they differed. but i--one of the--i think one of the most misleading characterizations of the founders is to focus on their differences. there were tremendous battles that took place during the founding area, jefferson vs. hamilton and so on. but those battles were over questions of how to implement a government that will protect the rights of man. everybody agreed on what the purpose of government was: securing human rights, securing property rights. the disagreement was: what should the role of government be in these relatively tangential areas or less-fundamental areas like, you know, 'should there be a national bank? to what extent should government try to--actively to promote commerce? or should it just leave the economy free to develop on its own?' these arguments, which were huge battles back then, from the point of view of today, look like minor squabbles bec

of the country the last sentence of article one section eight repeats that if you go back to alexander hamilton is report on manufacture section twenty one of his report on manufacturers seven hundred ninety. when he was the secretary of the treasury in washington the ministration and he was one of the guys in the room when they wrote the constitution he said we use the word general welfare because to use anything less vague would be to unnecessarily limit congress' how is student loans general welfare why if we have a well educated populace it works to the benefit of all of america since i have my point though we disagree so it's obviously not general welfare it's your genocide my general welfare general welfare you don't think that i can treat is better off if we have a what you don't think the g.i. bill helped it worse but the point is those are education you could make that argument we'd all be better if we ate broccoli does that mean we tax people who don't eat broccoli and who choose to eat beef jerky i mean the point of the general welfare clause was actually you know we do a variation o

neighborhood of about a trillion dollars current dollars and in fact you want to have a deficit alexander hamilton the first treasury secretary wrote about this at some length because you want to have people you want to have something that stable that people can invest in where they can invest in their government you know a. safe place to invest. so when reagan came along they were like ok if we do the tax cut thing then the deficits going to go up now how can that be a good thing because we're publicans we're not supposed to be in favor the deficit going up but when women if the deficit goes up you know if we can really drive the deficit up then when the democrats come into power as inevitably will we can start yelling and screaming about the deficit and force them to cut back on the social programs we can force them to shoot their own santa clause and that's exactly what they did reagan took that one trillion dollar deficit it was about eight hundred billion dollars we came into office and took it up to about three trillion by the time he left and then george herbert walker bush after him took i

to take in a sells testimony such as ourssystem such as ours and he was cutting deals with alexander hamiltonand he said they were pitted like two cocks at war always, yet when it at came time to site the capital on the potomac he gave up on a key financial issue to get it done. >> jennifer: so that art of give and take is obviously in the horse trading but he also had a way of shamussing i will say. >> right. >> jennifer: there today's par las that i think could be illustrative. >> well, it is. i think by pretty common ascent, president obama wouldn't agree with this, but i think almost everybody else would, that he has not been the most sociable guy with members of congress. and what jefferson did when congress was in session every night more or less, he had lawmakers down to dinner. he would write his daughter saying i am about to be an unpunk tal correspondent because i am about to enter enter into the business of the session, and a big part that have was having people in the president's hughes, up close and personal. not that he thought it would create a bipartisan simpsonism, but that i

goes back to the alexander hamilton quote. for all of us is individuals weathered is economic freedom or just freedom to live our lives the way we want to we have got to focus on states rights because if we don't and the federal government will run everything about our lives. let me thank you for the opportunity to be here, thank you for what you do every day. have a great day. >> the u.s. constitution and to screen court republican senator mike lee of utah and ted crews of texas. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. our mid afternoon session. good afternoon. my name is leonard leo and i'm vice presidents of the federalist society. cote you are all having a great time at our 30th anniversary convention. it is hard to believe this is the third occasion on which we are welcoming united states senator mike lee. seems like yesterday, senator, when you came to us just after your election in 2010 presenting your vision of our system of limited constitutional government. i remember you describing with a sen

. >> it was the idea primarily of alexander hamilton who was the first secretary of the treasury under george washington. he realized you needed to have the ability to tax and the ability to issue debt and manage debt and bring debt down. >> we also stiffed creditors back then too. >> absolutely. the united states was born in default. we defaulted on many obligations to foreign creditors and to our own soldiers. >> reporter: okay. so america was born and swaddled in debt. and then about four score and seven years later when the country threatened to break in two, it was borrowing that distinguished the winners from the loser s. in the civil war the north financed itself by issuing bonds and developing a tax system. nobody was very happy about that. it worked. the south financed itself by printing money and got a hyperinflation. destabilizing, further destabilizing its economy. those are two different ways to finance a big ramp-up in government activity. the north won in part because they had a better approach, the hamilton approach, to public finance. >> reporter: that approach was to

because we too, i mean when alexander hamilton wrote about the public credit he made it explicit. there too many to the term. one is can we borrow from other countries or other people and secondly, are our promises good? will they accept their promise to pay them back and will we use the money for the purposes we borrowed it for and wisely administered that that's? and those issues are very tightly interwoven in this whole problem of the welfare state. my friend built locally, one of his solutions was to move towards means testing, more and more of it so that you know, in a presumably rich country and one that is getting richer broadly speaking over time, individual should be able to pay for more of their own benefits, because society -- i mean if you look over the last several years society is a lot richer than it was. if you look over the past 100 years it is phenomenally more rich that it used to be. his ideas you can shrink the welfare state by confining it more and more to the truly needy and freeing up other people to make their own arrangements. i think that is not an unrea

alexander hamilton used the term "representative democracy," we're based on majority rule and consent, but that is limited by a constitution; hence, this compound regime. now, one of the major charges that the colonist raised was he, george the iii, combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws giving assent to take acts of pretended legislation. now, of course, the constitution he was referring to in 1776 was the british constitution. the and sent constitution, but that con cement is the same. there was foreign jurisdiction that was going to have authority over us. we're going to examine now the ideas and practices of those who, in our time, have combined with others to subject us or attempt to to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution. well, ideas have consequences as we learned long ago from an early isi scholar, richard weaver. let's examine the ideas. the global governance project. these are not hard to find. you don't have to be invited to a secret meeting or the trilateral commission or any of this stuff. it'

it goes back to the alexander hamilton quote.of us as individuals can the weather is economic freedom for the freedom to live or die so we want to come with such a focus on state rights. if we don't the federal government will run everything and advice. amid thank you again for the opportunity to be here. thank you for what you do every day. thank you, bye, bye. [applause] >> republican senator mike leigh and ted cruz of texas. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. this is our mid afternoon session. again, good afternoon. my name is leonard leo and i served as executive vice president of the federalist society. we hope you are all having a great time here at our 30th anniversary convention. you know, it is hard to believe that this is the third occasion i think at which we are welcoming united states senator mike lee. seems like yesterday sunder when you came to us just after her election in 2010, presenting your vision of our system of limited constitutional government. but remember you describing with

alexander hamilton used the term representative democracy. so we're a government that is based on majority rule and consent, but that is limited by a constitution. hence, this compound regime. now, one of the major charges that the american colonists raised against king george iii in the declaration of independence was about sovereignty. i'll read that charge. he, that's george iii, has combined with others to summit us to a jurisdiction -- to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. now, of course, the constitution he was referring to, obviously, in 1776 was the british constitution. the ancient constitution. but they were looking for some foreign jurisdiction that was going to have authority over us. we're going to examine the ideas and practices of those who in our time have combined with others to subject us or to attempt to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution. well, ideas have consequences as we learned long ago

alexander hamilton in a speech to the new york constitutional ratifying convention in 1877 -- 1788 that citizens have to dwell on the balance between national and state government with particular attention because it forms a double security for the people. if one encroaches on the rights, they will find a powerful protection in the other. we all must work aggressively to protect the american dream for future generations from the very outset of the constitutional experiment, there's been a temptation for the federal government to expand the reach of government. the last four years, a lot more, and to diminish the sphere of inindividual freedoms along with it. in the face of adversity, it's easy to look to an all-powerful government machine that promises to fix all problems, realize every dream, and line every pocket. we know those promises are em empty, there's no government replacement for hard work and dreams. what citizens in this country have always yearned for and demanded is equality of opportunity, not the equality of outcomes. give me a shot. give me a chance. that's what we all

at the alexander hamilton service area off of the new jersey turnpike cars were lined up for over a mile. >> this is the worse i've ever seen it. truly terrible. >> reporter: people drove over 60 miles from the jersey shore just to get fuel. and in many cases found out there was nothing left. >> i went to six gas stations and every one is out. >> all the engines and everything went under water. >> reporter: unable to deliver his payload the truck was towed to meet tur intelligent demand for fuel. >> hardest part was getting in. >> reporter: half of all gas station in the region are currently closed either due to a lack of power or inventory. and one station in cranford, new jersey people lined up on foot to get gas for generators being used in homes without electricity. for many the need for fuel meant waiting well into the evening. >> i waited two hours. >> i've waited for three hours now. on the parkway people are cutting in. i'm thaep state police are out there. >> reporter: how much time did you guys spend looking for gas? >> probably about two or three hours today. there's been long

at the alexander hamilton service area off the new jersey turnpike, cars were lined up for over a mile. >> it's the worst i've ever seen. >> reporter: people like keith mittenzwei drove over the jersey shore to get fuel and in many cases found out there was nothing left. >> i stopped at six stations and every one is sold out. >> reporter: this truck's engine was flood by the storm making it undrivable. >> the engine and everything went under water. >> reporter: unable to deliver its payload, the truck was finally towed to meet the urgent demands for fuel. >> people didn't want to get out of the way. everybody trying to cut in line. >> reporter: more than half of all gas stations in the region are currently closed, either due to a lack of power or inventory. one station in crayonford, new jersey, people loined up on foot to get gas for generators being used in homes without electricity. for many, that meant waiting well into the evening. >> i've been waiting here two hours. >> i've been waiting for three hours now. people trying to cut in. i'm really happy state police are out there. >>

alexander hamilton, james monroe, they all loved this country and they fought and bled for it but theyere all ambitious men and their ambitions came to the floor in the year 1800 more than any other time and they collided with each other. hamilton, monroe, jefferson, all of them collided in the year 1800 john marshall also a hero of the revolutionary war as a chief justice that had been emasculated and told them. >> do you get into the greatest generation which if you had to name one what would it be? >> some people argue the founding fathers were in the generation despite. >> i would think certainly the greatest generation in terms of love of the country. one -- when you heard not just this generation of the founding fathers but when you heard eisenhower speak for example, you knew he loved his country. john kennedy, you knew he loved his country. i think that [inaudible] the columns in the the date. for them to say they love this country. >> to me talking about the founding fathers, these are people that could have easily been hung. estimate the all committed treason. they were briti

on this very point, alexander hamilton was prescient. "safety from external danger," he wrote, "is the most powerful director of national conduct. even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. the violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and their political righ rights. to be more safe they, at length, become willing to run the risk of being less free." our nation's founders warned us about the grave danger of sacrificing our most basic liberties in the pursuit of security -- security at all costs. they provided us with the constitution framed to prevent precisely such a tragic outcome. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the feinstein-lee amendment and against the mistaken idea that the government may detain american persons indefinitely without charge and without trial.

captured by lincoln weren't released when washington dealt with the whiskey rebellion, he said to alexander hamilton, they went out to stop the rebellion, they were just citizens. so i would just say that is what i feel about that. mr. president, i'd like to call up -- set aside the pending business and call up amendment number 3009. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from michigan. mr. levin: repeat the question. mr. sessions: i would like to set aside the pending amendment and call up amendment numbered 3009. i understand it would not be voted on tonight, but i just thought i would like to get it pending. mr. levin: i wonder if the senator would speak on it without calling it up. without calling it up. i wonder if the senator would speak to the amendment without calling up the amendment. mr. sessions: i would be glad to if the chairman thinks that it won't be a problem calling it up at a later date. will he support me in that? mr. levin: i hope not. i don't even know what's in the amendment, but we're trying to accommodate a process where everybody is going to have a chance hop

alexander hamilton, john marshall, but you don't think of how they became where they were.arshall was with washington in valley forge. he behaved heroically in a number of engagements. he was there to the fact that jefferson did not participate in that enterprise. i'm on a detour, but madison because he wrote the constitution would be my favorite. >> what has pleasantly surprised you the most since joining the supreme court? >> if i could take two things, first, how serious the institution is in the conference room. in the conference room with the supreme court, which is right off of my office behind the courtroom, there's one big table. we have on one side, all the published opinions of the supreme court. on the other side, all of the statutes that congress has passed. no one is allowed in there during the institutions other than the justices, and so although i have been litigating before the supreme court for 20 years, i had no idea what went op there. you can imagine how i felt going in there for the first time. i was -- they had been together for 11 years, no new justic

it, the shows are none other than james madison and nafta and alexander -- james madison and alexander hamilton. it is working exactly the way our founders intended. i go to the end of their peace. piece.y point -- peac rarely do used to achieve all or most of the goals in [indiscernible] it is the beginning of a consensus and a good start toward genuine change. the framers would be pleased at the spectacle. >> i will support this legislation, but with serious lead to -- serious reservations. this extension is not the one piece of legislation that will change everything wrong in washington. it is a reversal of previous tax policy, with some movement down the road to fiscal responsibility. it sets us on a course that, if we adhere to it, would eventually enable us to balance our budget, drawn down our debt, with incredible programs on a sustainable path, and create conditions for strong, economic growth. it could have been better. that is true. politically, the white house and the democrats in congress would not agree to more. they control this. a second premise of republican leadership is that

talking about a dangerous situation that was predicted 200 years ago by thomas jeffers yon alexander hamiltonthey agreed on this. when the public treasury becomings a public trop. they will only send to government who sends back the piece of the pie . when it reaches 50 and goes over 50. there is uation where half plus one that receives from the trop has legal tools with which to fill the trop from the pocket books. >> brian: more metaphors. you would think that the cash cow would be treated like the golden goose and not touched because they are supplies the 50 percent that are on the trop. >> you are so smart. >> brian: i rejected. the campus was nicer. why, why don't we covet the bread winners more and treat them so harshly. >> because the people who control these, the president know the short-term gain like the re-election victory two nights ago is the result of giving away cash now. they don't see every dollar taken away from taxpayer is a dollar less to invest in the economy and produce prosperity and jobs. they don't see the long-term affect of raising taxes x. less economic activity an

alexander hamilton was being blackmailed because of an extramarital affair, you know -- i love richard'snt. i think that the sexual mccarthyism predates mccarthy in a lot of ways. but i do think one of the points of history in life is to learn and grow, so i think richard, there's a lot to say there. did we learn nothing in the late 1990s but that we should value competence over private moral flaws? >> well -- >> what? >> well, we don't know all the facts. >> without in any way casting -- my instinct when i hear that clip from richard cohen is to say hear, hear. we are, you know, there's still a lot of facts we don't know. and one of the things that security clearances get based on as you know, joe, there's a clause in the documentation for how you, you know, give security clearances. people display consistent reckless behavior, they are considered problematic for security clearances. so we don't know exactly what david petraeus has done across the board. i'm not accusing him of anything, i'm saying there's a lot of fact pattern here that is still not known. and until we know the full sc

well served in the past ten years or so because of the growing popularity of john adams, of alexander hamilton. what i wanted to do and what i always do on this is how do you -- how can you read the papers anew? that is, put yourself, if you can take yourself and put yourself back in that moment. again, we know how the story turned out but they didn't. if you could read -- if you actually read the letters, it's fascinating. something like 22,000 letters we have. and so -- and things hide in plain sight. and so what i wanted to do i thought the tombstone where he lists being involved, the declaration of independence, the virginia statute for religious liberty and the founder of the university of virginia is one of the great acts of misdirection in american history. he sent us to the world of ideas because he understood that the ideas would endure whereas the political struggles of the day were inherently controversial and might not stand him as well in terms of reputation. but what he did was he cut deals. he governed. he was totally devote d to the survival and success of republican liberty, b

you think of alexander hamilton -- hamilton, john marshall, you don't think about how they became whohey work. marshall was at valley forge. he behaved heroically in a number of engagements. and he resented the fact pedersen did not par in but had -- the fact that jefferson did not participate in an enterprise. but i have gotten off on a tangent. but madison wrote the constitution. he is my favorite. >> what has surprised you the most since joining the supreme court? >> two things. the first, how serious the discussion is in the conference room. in the conference room of the supreme court, which is right off of my office behind the courtroom, there is one big table. we have on one side and all of the published opinions of the supreme court, on the other side, the statutes that congress has passed. and no one is allowed in there during the discussions accept the justices. -- except the justices. although i had mitigated before the supreme court, had no idea what went on in there. you could imagine how i felt my first try. they had been together for 11 years with no new justices. i was

for a number of things -- the home of innovators like thomas he had soyen, the place where alexander hamilton, my birthplace, patterson, new jersey, alexander helped start the industrial revolution, and also known as a state with a beautiful se seashore and recreation area. unfortunately, the wrath of superstorm sandy two weeks ago destroyed so much of our shore. its storm surge wrecked boats, homes, and even took trains, whole trains off the tracks. the winds reached 89 miles an hour, uprooting trees across our state, destroying everything in its path, and leaving millions -- 2.5 million without electric and staying in the dark. the force of this storm is so hard to describe in words, so i point out a picture here. that's one of our beachside communities -- that -- what was left of that house, the destruction was so total, and it wasn't just the possessions that were lost, it was the memorabilia, it was the pictures, it was the precious moments that were identified with trinkets or member men tows. it was a -- or mementos. it was a terrible period. we're going to stand with those who lost so

alexander hamilton grew up in the virgin islands. he later became the seen yore aide-de-camp to general washington. it's reported that we were the first to salute the stars and stripes in one of our beautiful harbors. as of last year, u.s. -- the u.s. virgin islands had a total of 1,807 men and women armed services personnel serving in the army, air force, coast guard and navy. we have 108 officers proudly serving in our national guard and air guard and sadly, we too lost soldier well, lost eight in the afghan and iraq wars. presently, the decision on which flags fly and are laons rests with the individual base commander. the display of flags in the territories and u.s. military installations at home and abroad varies. the department of the army is the only branch of the military that has taken steps to ensure a service-wide policy requiring display of all 56 flags. i stand today with my five delegate colleagues to again call on the senate to adopt the house bill that includes language requiring all branches of the armed fores to fly

spectacle, a three ring circus, the show's impresarios are none other than james madison and alexander hamilton. are messy political system is working exactly the way our founders intended it to." and i go to the end. "the key point has been made. rarely in our system to the participants achieved all or even most of their goals in a single political battle. the key point has been made. few now suggest that we can continue on our current spending bencinge. that is the beginning of but consensus and the start of a good change. the freeman used -- the framers would be pleased at the spectacle." >> i will support this legislation, but with very serious reservations. the extension is not the one piece of legislation that will change everything wrong in washington. it is at best. reversal of previous tax and spend policy. the bill at settles on a course if we adhere to it, but we will eventually enable us to balance our budget. put entitlement programs on a sustainable path and create the conditions for strong economic growth. it could have been better, that is absolutely true, as a substantive matte

bit further, george washington in his first year as president of the united states instructed alexander hamilton to develop an industrial policy . one part of that industrial policy was the development of the infrastructure for america's commerce and it was canals and it was ports and it was roads. mr. higgins, so how are we going to make this happen? you got $1.2 trillion you want to put out there. mr. higgins: well, i think you made a very good point, particularly with your leadership on the make it in america initiative. keep in mind when you invest there american infrastructure, you're buying labor from american businesses. you're buying supplies and material from american businesses. you're buying engineering and design services from american businesses. and we also forgot a very important element of our economy. it's the million -- it's the thousands of returning veterans who have been serving our country in iraq and afghanistan. the unemployment rate, the unemployment rate today for those returning veterans under the age of 24 is 19%. there was a program started by the department of defen