[adanthar]

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The general welfare, ie, the well being of the general population, not the peoples of california.

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I disagree with the "everybody or nobody" inference. Here's the full text:

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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.

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Note the conspicuous exclusion of taxes from the requirement of uniformity. It seems very plain that Congress can set taxes at different rates for different places, favoring one area over another, so long as it is for the general welfare. Unless somebody wants to argue that disaster relief does not benefit the US at large - and such an argument would have to be made on economic grounds - it's clearly covered.