Supreme Court misreads the Commerce Clause

This past Monday (6/6/05) the U.S Supreme Court held in Gonzales v. Raich that the commerce powers granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution trump the historical police powers reserved to the states. As Justice Thomas said in dissent, "If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything—and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers."

If there is any surprise here, it is that Thomas actually thought the federal government had limited powers. At least now the cat is out of the bag.