August 13, 2012 5:51PM 

# (Alas) There’s No BBQ Clause in the Constitution 

By [Ilya Shapiro](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-shapiro) 

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Surprisingly, President Obama’s first direct attack on Paul Ryan since the congressman’s selection as Mitt Romney VP nominee doesn’t involve the threat of grandma being pushed off a cliff. Instead, it [involves](http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/08/13/obama_s_opening_attack_on_paul_ryan.html?from=rss/&wpisrc=newsletter_slatest) the latest [farm bill](http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/08/obama-asks-iowans-to-pressure-paul-ryan-on-farm-bill-131961.html), which has too many subsidies and food-stamp increases for House Republicans’ tastes (good for them).

Now, I’m no expert in agriculture policy — for more on farm bills and related disasters, I recommend my colleague [Sallie James’s work](https://www.cato.org/people/sallie-james) — but one provision in the disputed legislation caught my eye: Apparently the federal government plans to [buy over $150 million](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57492235-503544/obama-takes-on-ryan-in-iowa/) of meat and fish. Sounds like a great cookout, but what gives the government the power to do that? Where exactly is the Constitution’s BBQ Clause?

If only President Obama could take a page from another embattled Democratic president facing a drought-stricken nation: In 1887, Grover Cleveland vetoed a bill appropriating $10,000 for seeds for suffering Texas farmers, saying, “I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution.” (For more on that and other similar examples, see [this report](https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa446.pdf) from 10 years ago this month.)

What a long way we’ve come.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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