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Notes -
This is kind of a nitpick aside from the article, which was interesting, but the constitution solely as a document of enumerated powers has never been the singular interpretation in the US, and didn't end with the Fourteenth Amendment (which is not to say that things haven't changed since then). The Doctrine of Implied Powers, based on the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause and the General Welfare Clause, has been with us since the founding and let the government do some pretty seismic stuff it was explicitly written that it could do, like create a national bank and establish the middle third of the country.
Ironically, during the Lochner Era at least, the Fourteenth Amendment was used to argue not for but against economic redistribution-y measures like minimum wage and maximum working hour laws on the basis that they violated freedom of contract, which was protected (in their opinion) by the 14th's Due Process Clause. When the Government started passing federal versions of those laws in the 30s they were awarding themselves regulatory power against the contemporary precedent set by the 14th.
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