The federal government has assumed great responsibility to tax and provide for our citizens under the interpreted authority of the general welfare clause in the Constitution. Our Departments of Transportation, Education, Agriculture, and Interior are all justified by the general welfare clause.  Most recently one of the main justifications of the Healthcare Act is that Congress has authority to create such a law because of the general welfare clause.  But how Constitutional is this assumed authority?  What would our founders say about this current view of federal power?