Before I begin I read "yonason's" comments which I thought were quite good and useful.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

- The Constitution of the United States of America

A distinction has been made between promote and provide.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

- Section 8.

In the Preamble, promote refers to the individual states. They were certainly not in any position to provide for the general welfare. The states were to promote their own legitimate ends which end is the common good or general welfare of the state. But the states were to promote their own general welfare even after the Constitution was written. The states were still seperate and didn't become the United States until after the Constitution had been written and ratified. Then they became the United States. So we have two different meanings to "United States" in the Preamble. In the 10th Amendment United States refers to the federal government. Just another meaning of which there are many.

What does "provide" for the general welfare mean? It simply means that when a state or states cannot promote their own general welfare or maintain the common good that the federal government will come to the rescue and once that is achieved they should get out. But of course before one goes to the federal government one should see if his neighbor can help meaning a neighboring state or even a distant one. This is the "principle of subsidiarity" and is a natural law principle. The federal government has annihilated this which is an immoral act and which I consider a criminal offense. They are in control of the money which they dole out to the states through pork added to good bills or bad ones.

Taxing and spending under the general welfare clause is criminal and Congress, with the help of the courts, has brought this country to its knees and has mangled the Constitution so it is no longer capable of being recognized.

To provide simply means that the federal government gives aid to the states in need or dire need to promote their general welfare and get them back on their feet. But as you know the whole government is in a mess and is corrupt and irresponsible with taxpayers money.

As you said there is no putting Pandora back in the box and certainly when our debt is 100 trillion dollars

[Formating fixes. No other changes. --MJ]