Explain why the power of the commerce clause in enabling cooperative federalism as a political policy?

"An example of cooperative federalism is the federal government giving tax revenue to the states in order to fund interstate highways; the states are allowed to govern the construction and maintenance process in accordance with goals set by the national government." This is from a studyguide website http://quizlet.com/5312848/federalism-flash-cards/

But I would argue that the federal government never had the power under the commerce clause to order those highways. The commerce clause was meant to give the fedgov the power to regulate commerce between the states--after the fact of the commerce. In other words, only if you crossed a state line with your business interests could they get involved. Building a highway so that commerce CAN conduct business is not the fedgov's business. Therefore it's Unconstitutional.

"To regulate commerce....among the several States" does not give it the power to enable commerce "Early on, the Supreme Court ruled that the power to regulate interstate commerce encompassed the power to regulate interstate navigation." http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/commerce_clause

But the Gibbons v. Ogden case http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/cases/gibbons... was not the same as the building of highways. That case had to do with a state-granted monopoly.

One can argue that our highways were for national security, which actually was part of the argument during the Eisenhower Administration. But that is another law, not the Commerce Clause.

And so I would also argue that most cooperative federalism is also just as Unconstitutional. If you want to have it, then you must change the Constitution to allow for it. That has not happened.

Do your own homework. Or do you plan to be ignorant for your whole life?

I wouldn't call it that....but its not good that they road block opportunities.