Allen West becomes a big brother government kinda guy

So much for the Tea Party, less-government Allen West.

Congressman West (R-FL) is now pitching nationally mandated restrictions for teen drivers, and big insurance seems to love this big govenrment idea.

Allstate is among those cheering West's move:

NORTHBROOK, Ill., March 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Allstate joined U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL) in Jupiter, Fla. today as he announced his co-sponsorship of the Safe Teen and Novice Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act – H.R. 1515.
"We are proud to stand with Congressman West on this important piece of legislation that will help save lives and helps create a culture of safe driving for current and future generations," said Bill Vainisi, senior vice president and deputy general counsel, Allstate Insurance Company. "This is truly a bipartisan issue that affects American families across the country, and we urge leaders in Congress to join us in the fight to enact federal uniform graduated driver licensing (GDL) standards that empower states to establish stronger teen driving laws. This can be done either by passing STANDUP as a stand-alone bill or by supporting its inclusion in pending transportation reauthorization bills before Congress."
The STANDUP Act creates minimum GDL standards for all young drivers to protect them on America's highways and roads. GDL programs allow new young drivers to gain experience under supervised and less risky conditions, addressing several major facets of the teen driving problem.

Nice spin Allstate, but do we really need national restrictions of this nature? Does Mr. West believe states are incapable of determining what regulations should be applied to drivers without the strong arm of the federal government once again exerting coercion by withholding highway tax dollars?

Mr. West gained political office by running on a limited government, limited taxation Tea Party platform. Now he champions legislation demanding states adopt driving rules along nationally mandated guidelines.

It didn't take long for Allen West to become a beltway insider. But who needs the Tea Party when you have big insurance companies as your cheerleader?