Christopher Cole on the Federal Drinking Age
From the campaign of Christopher Cole for US Senate
Cole is challenging the re-election of Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole, who was also Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Transportation in 1984, when the Federal drinking-age standard was adopted.
News recently says that a group of college presidents has asked the Federal government to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Christopher Cole, Libertarian for US Senate, agrees that such a move should be a no-brainer: If 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds are trustworthy with automatic weapons, driving tanks, or standing toe-to-toe with terrorists in Iraq, only a deranged busybody could claim that they are unable to handle a beer.
However, Cole believes that; while the academics are right about the problem, they are wrong about the solution. He points to three dirty little secrets about the federal drinking age:
Dirty secret #1: There actually IS NO Federal drinking age. Rather, Congress put a limitation on Federal transportation funds, cutting disbursements to states that had a drinking age LOWER than 21. They understood that they had no authority to set a standard directly, so they used money as a leash on state autonomy. Which leads to ...
Dirty secret #2: There IS NO constitutional authority for Congress to collect or disburse funds for transportation. The Federal bureaucrats have chosen to ignore THAT limitation, because it gave them control over state and local governments. Which leads to ...
Dirty secret #3: North Carolina is a net DONOR to Federal transportation expenditures (recently increased to 92 cents on the dollar). That means that money is transferred from NC taxpayers to other states for THEIR transportation needs. It follows that the elimination of those funds would actually result in an INCREASE in transportation funds available to North Carolina needs.
As a lover of the Constitution, Cole advocates the abolition of the collection or disbursement of transportation funds by Congress from or within the states. He would limit the Federal Department of Transportation to those areas under proper Federal authority: the District of Columbia, US territories (such as Puerto Rico), or constitutional Federal enclaves, such as Indian reservations and military bases. (The constitution also authorizes postal roads, but that need was met long ago.)
----- end of press release -----
Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.
Cole is challenging the re-election of Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole, who was also Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Transportation in 1984, when the Federal drinking-age standard was adopted.
News recently says that a group of college presidents has asked the Federal government to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Christopher Cole, Libertarian for US Senate, agrees that such a move should be a no-brainer: If 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds are trustworthy with automatic weapons, driving tanks, or standing toe-to-toe with terrorists in Iraq, only a deranged busybody could claim that they are unable to handle a beer.
However, Cole believes that; while the academics are right about the problem, they are wrong about the solution. He points to three dirty little secrets about the federal drinking age:
Dirty secret #1: There actually IS NO Federal drinking age. Rather, Congress put a limitation on Federal transportation funds, cutting disbursements to states that had a drinking age LOWER than 21. They understood that they had no authority to set a standard directly, so they used money as a leash on state autonomy. Which leads to ...
Dirty secret #2: There IS NO constitutional authority for Congress to collect or disburse funds for transportation. The Federal bureaucrats have chosen to ignore THAT limitation, because it gave them control over state and local governments. Which leads to ...
Dirty secret #3: North Carolina is a net DONOR to Federal transportation expenditures (recently increased to 92 cents on the dollar). That means that money is transferred from NC taxpayers to other states for THEIR transportation needs. It follows that the elimination of those funds would actually result in an INCREASE in transportation funds available to North Carolina needs.
As a lover of the Constitution, Cole advocates the abolition of the collection or disbursement of transportation funds by Congress from or within the states. He would limit the Federal Department of Transportation to those areas under proper Federal authority: the District of Columbia, US territories (such as Puerto Rico), or constitutional Federal enclaves, such as Indian reservations and military bases. (The constitution also authorizes postal roads, but that need was met long ago.)
----- end of press release -----
Christopher “Chris” Cole is the Libertarian nominee for US Senator from North Carolina. To learn more about Chris, visit his campaign website.
posted by Linda at 11:26 AM
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