[minot]

Sorry but the Republic does not enshrine states' rights nearly as much as you say. One policy I have problem with is the open alcohol container policy that is nominally at the state level but is actually at the federal level enforced by the federal highway funding.

There are a lot of fundamental issues that we need to address at a federal level. I don't think it is decided that a strong central government causes a break down in the union of states.

Off-topic: I blew a zero in three different breathalyzers. Who comes up with idiotic rules like if you have an open container in the vehicle (that I never touched) I am automatically guilty of drunk driving?

[brightball]

It is the 10th amendment, part of the Bill of Rights.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

I'm aware of the Supreme Court interpretation of it but there are also a number of people who contest that particular interpretation, as people do on multiple Supreme Court rulings.

Totally agree with you on the highway funding thing. That's basically the tax equivalent of taking your wallet and then telling you what you have to do to get it back. It was one of the earliest recent examples of a Federal power grab and if I'm not mistake that was actually Reagan.