Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Arm Twisting

I wonder if sometime in the future Congress will consider letting people exercise personal responsibility or if they will continue to legislate the ‘nanny state’ to protect us from ourselves. Now there is a bill being introduced in Congress to make seatbelt use a federal issue instead of a state issue. If states don’t enact a primary seatbelt law the federal government will withhold a small percentage of their Highway Trust Fund money. Do as we say or you won’t get this money. This is one of the federal governments favorite ploys to coerce the states to do what they want. The states need to wise up and start standing up to this arm twisting tactic and tell the feds were to put there mandates.

Above and beyond this whole discussion of whether it is a state or federal issue should be interjected that it is an issue of personal responsibility first and foremost. You can legislate all you want about seat belt usage but people will make a personal decision whether to use them or not on their own without any government entity, state or federal, deciding for them.

Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility. Nothing adds such dignity to character as the recognition of one’s self-sovereignty. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)