September 18, 2009 2:50PM # And to Think: Senators Once Worked For Legislatures By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE S. 1536, the “[ALERT Drivers” Act](http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_SN_1536.html) (“Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers” — get it?) would reduce federal highway funds available to states if they don’t pass laws prohibiting people from writing, sending, or reading text messages while driving. The circle is complete. Senators, who were once chosen by state legislatures, now believe it is their role to tell state legislatures what to do. Federal command over our lives, in ever more intricate detail. It’s the product of exalting democracy — in this case, direct election of senators — over liberty and over the governmental structure originally established in the constitution. Texting while driving is dangerous to your health and others’. Letting governments amass power is dangerous to your freedom, and ultimately your health ([this way](https://www.cato.org/raidmap/), for example, and [this way](https://www.cato.org/pubs/articles/cannon-obamacare-townhall-magazine.pdf) and [this way](http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm)). ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).