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Is there anyone closely involved in the political field that could give me some insight on if this topic has been discussed at length in congress?
I don't think so. And actually states CAN have a lower drinknig age than 21. What happens if they do so, is that they lose a certain amount of there federal highway funds for road construction projects that are helped by the feds. And if they lose that fedral money and would have to put it in the budgets themselves it could blow huge holes in ANY states budget. So they do it to help keep federal highway construction money. And this WAS NOT done by some liberal. The push to have a de facto national drinknig age of 21 was pushed in 1984(IIRC) by Ronald Regan who conservatives to this day regard as a hero with states rights. Now I'm not trying to knock Regan here but doing this seemed to go against states rights and what he professed to believe in. And for what it is worth here is a link to a wikepidia article on the act that put the drinknig age to 21.
The Dole that was the defendant in the lawsuit filed by the state of South Dakota was Elizabeth as she was Secretary of Transportation for President Reagan.
I don't think so. And actually states CAN have a lower drinknig age than 21. What happens if they do so, is that they lose a certain amount of there federal highway funds for road construction projects that are helped by the feds. And if they lose that fedral money and would have to put it in the budgets themselves it could blow huge holes in ANY states budget. So they do it to help keep federal highway construction money. And this WAS NOT done by some liberal. The push to have a de facto national drinknig age of 21 was pushed in 1984(IIRC) by Ronald Regan who conservatives to this day regard as a hero with states rights. Now I'm not trying to knock Regan here but doing this seemed to go against states rights and what he professed to believe in.
Congress enacts the laws in this nation, not Presidents. This is basic civics. In 1984 the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats controlled the House. You are demonstrating your ignorance about how your own government functions with the above post.
Congress enacts the laws in this nation, not Presidents. This is basic civics. In 1984 the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats controlled the House. You are demonstrating your ignorance about how your own government functions with the above post.
NIce try to tell me I don't know hwo government works. I was a political science major in college. If Regan had not been behind this it never becomes law
We forget our national history. Americans were drop down drunkards. That is one of the reason that precipatated prohibition.
The reason we had prohibition is complex first was because we were transitioning from a rural farm economy to a urban industrialized economy. On the pre-industrial farm if you got ****faced, oh well you might plow funny but your chances of dying were negligible, in a 19th and early 20th century factory with all its hazards your chances of dying from being drunk were substantially higher. Additionally on the farm you generally were growing your own food in the factory town you needed your paycheck to buy food and if you drank it you and your family were screwed.
On top of all this initially Americans drank beer and hard cider. As trade and technology increased, distilling became more common place and people were no longer drinking beer and cider, but rather whisky and to a lesser extent rum. Thus people were much more capable of getting totally hammered as it is easier with distilled spirits then it is will beer as any college freshman can tell you.
All these factors led women especially to push for banning alcohol.
As to the OP I am for no age limit on alcohol. I started drinking at age 8-10 w/adult supervision and had my first cocktails when I was 14 (yes that was legal where I was at the time) and as alcohol was totally demystified for me by the time I got to college so I understood to never engage myself in a dangerous situation with it.
Last edited by Randomstudent; 04-16-2013 at 03:17 PM..
The problem with this, though, is you are legislating based on the lowest common denominator. Passing laws that punish intelligent and sensible people because of the obliviots. Are you honestly going to say that a 19-year-old college student should be put into jail for having a glass of wine with dinner? What about a craft beer while grilling a steak? Sipping a fruity cocktail on the beach?
College students are not put in jail for underage drinking. Nice try. I was caught by the police once for underage drinking, and all I got was a $150 fine.
Oops... I was typing too fast. No, you are correct, I've never heard of someone being arrested and put into jail for underage drinking. But I HAVE heard of people being arrested for giving alcohol to minors, which is what I was thinking about as I typed that. So change the quoted paragraph to:
Quote:
The problem with this, though, is you are legislating based on the lowest common denominator. Passing laws that punish intelligent and sensible people because of the obliviots. Are you honestly going to say that a 21-year-old college student should be put in jail for for having a glass of wine with dinner with his 19-year-old girlfriend? What about a craft beer while grilling a steak? Sipping a fruity cocktail on the beach? Should a parent lose custody of his child for letting him have a sip of Mike's Hard Lemonade?
Before prohibition there were over 23,000 breweries. After prohibition 6.
They didn't bring water over in the ships. They brought beer. Something to do with the water and it being bad. Boiling it and making beer made the water drinkable.
I think a child's parents ought to be able to give a child a beer, champagne (New Years) wine (dinner), without ANY intrusion from anyone else regarding opinion. I also think that if the US handled alcohol like they do in Germany, there would be far less kids going psycho, rebelling against adults who say, "No you can't!" because alcohol consumption would be no big deal.
Funny that for most kids in Germany, where they can drink without all the drama, kids are less likely to consume excess alcohol.
I think a child's parents ought to be able to give a child a beer, champagne (New Years) wine (dinner), without ANY intrusion from anyone else regarding opinion. I also think that if the US handled alcohol like they do in Germany, there would be far less kids going psycho, rebelling against adults who say, "No you can't!" because alcohol consumption would be no big deal.
Funny that for most kids in Germany, where they can drink without all the drama, kids are less likely to consume excess alcohol.
Absolutely. I remember sitting in a bar in the Netherlands in my mid-teens. No one thought it was strange or out of place. Ironically, this bar was attached to a gymnasium. Nothing like a cold brewski after a tough workout.
I think a child's parents ought to be able to give a child a beer, champagne (New Years) wine (dinner), without ANY intrusion from anyone else regarding opinion. I also think that if the US handled alcohol like they do in Germany, there would be far less kids going psycho, rebelling against adults who say, "No you can't!" because alcohol consumption would be no big deal.
Funny that for most kids in Germany, where they can drink without all the drama, kids are less likely to consume excess alcohol.
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