Two weeks after his second inaugural, Franklin Roosevelt announced a plan to restructure the Federal courts. The plan was received without enthusiasm, even by fellow Democrats in Congress.
It would be the first of several missteps that would end Franklin Roosevelt’s remarkable series of political victories.
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Fanfare
Opening Theme
Those Crazy Cats
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I frankly have to disagree with your assessment that the “restricted” view of the commerce clause has no clear Constitutional basis. If the commerce clause was intended to give the federal government authority to regulate indirect acts of commerce that may have interstate consequences, then why restrict the commerce clause to “interstate” commerce in the first place? It’s possible to argue that ANY commercial activity has some sort of effect on interstate commerce, so why doesn’t the Constitution explicitly give the authority to regulate intrastate commerce as well? The expanded argument falls flat.
I said that the distinction between direct and indirect effect on interstate commerce is not found in the text of the Constitution, and that’s an objective fact. (It doesn’t use the word “interstate” either, by the way.)
As usual another great episode. A great life lesson can be learned from Franklin Roosevelt. No one can really have everything they want in life. Roosevelt’s unwillingness to compromise on the court packing plan cost him big time. If he had compromised and met his opposition half-way he could have avoided some of the missteps you mentioned in the episode. I think compromise is a great lesson to learn for anyone in government or just people in general. That being said, there are definitely some issues/beliefs in life that someone should not compromise on in certain situations. Learning how to work with other people who share differing views is definitely a great skill to have.