Quote Originally Posted by motorfirebox View Post
There's strong evidence within the Constitution itself that the authors intended that it, to some degree, grow and change with the times. Article 1 Section 9 prohibits Congress from restricting the slave trade--the "importation of persons", to use the exact wording--until 1808. This is pretty clearly a recognition of the fact that public views and the national sense of morality can and will--and, in the opinion of many founding fathers, should--change over time, and that the laws of the nation can and should be modified to reflect those changes.
Yes, but there is a fairly high standard for what it takes to modify the Constitution. Most of the liberal/progressive usurpation of power by the fed.gov has taken place by Congressional or judicial fiat, not the approved amendment process. The notable exception being the 16th Amendment, which allowed the income tax. Social security, Medicare and other health care, pretty much every entitlement program, agricultural subsidies, gun control, abortion, education "standards", environmental "standards", etc, (all pretty clearly outside the original scope of the federal gov't) were not implemented through an amendment to the Constitution.