I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity. [To approve the measure] would be contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded. Franklin Pierce -- President Franklin Pierce's 1854 veto of a measure to help the mentally ill.
For as much bitching and moaning as the Right and Left engage in I often wonder if anyone actually ever read the Constitution. I can't see how nearly everything our government does is legitimate, even with a flawed framework.