Bush proposal is unconstitutional

To the editor:

Article X of the U.S. Constitution says: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." That portion of our foundation document has long been dear to the Republican heart, especially as it applies to attempts to expand the federal government, and as part of their love of strict construction of the Constitution.

That is why President Bush's speech in Belleville, Ill., asking for Congress to pass a federal damage cap for medical malpractice is so troubling. First of all, it is an unconstitutional attempt to invade the province of the states. If he wishes to have that to be in Uncle Sam's province, then he should be asking Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution to give the federal government the power to do so.

Secondly, it is both fundamental interference in the states' powers and a complete lack of faith in their ability to govern.

Without even reaching the merits of this idea, at a time when Republicans control this government, the president's first response in his first policy speech in the new year is to propose the wrong way to go about it. Here is hoping some Republican lawmakers of conscience will stand against this illegal idea and protect the Constitution.

MICHAEL H. MAGUIRE, Cape Girardeau