Ok, I'll bite and play a little devil's advocate. As much as I'd love to be able to sell my homebrew, wouldn't any law that that allows such sales to home brewers also place an unfair restriction on commercial brewers? Mind you, I'm not worried about our dear friends at BMC, nor am I worried about the bigger craft brewers such as Stone or Dogfish. The guys I do worry about are some of the much smaller outfits that I enjoy. I know that some states have a tiered approach to their taxation, similar to our federal income taxes. This allows the smaller brewers the ability to compete by keeping their tax bills lower, helping to offset the costs associated with not being a larger brewery (not sure of the technical term, economy of scales maybe?). While the process for starting a brewery with respect to the feds and state alcohol controls sounds excessive, from what I've read, can't this just be viewed as a barrier to entry that everyone must pass. In a sense, it's a public protection in itself, as the process and fees keep the jokers that my produce potentially harmful product out of the market (please spare the "nothing in beer can kill you" comments, as I die a little inside every time I taste a crappy beer). Don't know about you, but I'd be damn angry is some clown sold me a bottle bomb that put my eye out. That's what my Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle is for. Laws requiring breweries to have some sort of insurance or bond would ensure that if Jokey McAssclown's over carbed backyard Continuously Hopped Quad Imperial Baltic Farmhouse Bier de Garde happened to render me a cyclops, there would be something to go after, or some measure of recourse other than accepting his '85 Trans Am as payment for my eye.
Oh, and I disagree that the President has no legislative authority. The Pres has clear veto powers, and most President's in the last 50 years have acted as their party's de facto leader. If it's his agenda, his party will find a way to take it up in Congress. And the President, like anyone else, can write a bill, but must have it sponsored by a sitting member of Congress. This is usually how the budget is introduced every year. Seeing that he knows a few more Congressmen than I do, I would say his legislative authority is much greater that the average (sigh) man.
Ok, proceed on shred aforementioned arguments.
