Washington, October 1923: the Roaring Twenties are just hitting full stride; the stock market is on the rise; Calvin Coolidge is in the Oval Office--and there's no such thing as legal alcoholic beverages in the United States, thanks to the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.
But after several years, it's obvious that enforcing prohibition is at minimum a herculean task, if not simply impossible. To impose rigorous enforcement would take a sizable fraction of the American population, and would cost untold billions, even then. Thus, the following at a news conference held by the president...
"Good afternoon. Got a lot to cover today. First, the budget for next year is under review, and we're always looking for ways to save taxpayers' money. I've had the Director of the Budget checking a few things, and he found this: we're throwing away good money on prohibition.
It doesn't work, and it can't work. Too costly, too many men needed, too many miles of border to watch. I'm calling for Congress to pass a repeal amendment, and for the states to ratify it. We need to stop spending on something pointless..."
Pandemonium erupts: Silent Cal, the paragon of Yankee puritanism, advocating repeal? But then again, "thrifty" doesn't even approach Cal's persona. And he can do something that most people want--bring about repeal--and save taxes at the same time: a true master stroke.
So where do we go from here? It would seem the GOP has stolen a march on the Democrats, and would stand to gain substantially from northern ethnic Democrats. Sure, the Bible Belt won't buy it, but the folks there wouldn't vote for Coolidge anyhow.
Consider, then, repeal in the mid-1920s at Coolidge's behest in an effort to cut taxes. How does this pan out?