Posted on 12/30/2007 5:31:07 AM PST by TheEaglehasLanded
Government subsidies, regulation, taxation, and protection of tobacco have resulted in a mess, predictably. Absent government intervention, market and legal forces would have eliminated tobacco use in this country a generation ago, and we would all be better off for it. But instead the Momma Government has stepped in to protect the tobacco manufacturers from legal liability in exchange for protection money, and Momma is now more addicted to the protection money than any smoker ever was to nicotine.
I wish just one state would have the guts to take a completely hands-off approach to tobacco. No labeling, no taxes, no out-of-court settlements, no nothing. Let the tobacco companies sink or swim on the merits. The lawyers would have the carcass picked clean within a year.
Ohio has had this law for a year now. You will see attitudes change overnight come Junuary 1st. It is not a good thing. So sorry that you have to go through this like the people in Ohio. There is no mediation any more, and that’s what makes people angry about government and each other. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Know what ? ...If YOUR offended by the way someone smells IE like cigarette smoke thats YOUR problem but it’s not your right to restrict someones freedom from doing the same because it hurts your feelings.
Gee wonder if you would say something to the 500 lb fat woman who bathes in parfumes because she’s to fat to fit in the bathtub or just to lazy to bathe...
You might not like smelling others smoke but your sure not going to like it when your neighbors gang up on the vote and take something you like or wish to do away people thinking like you turn others into criminals with the stroke of a pen
Don’t save us because you want to be a nanny let us live free from your apron strings our mothers don’t follow us around neither should you !
Using a public opinion poll to gauge whether this is all on the level isn’t much better. The premise alone is pretty twisted.
Pontiac “I agree with you totally but you are swimming against a rip tide.”
I was caught in a serious rip tide once. I had to swim against it for a very long time without making almost any headway. It was very hard work, but I made it.
My point? It’s still possible to win against the politics of repression, but it won’t be easy. I still believe individual liberty sells, but so few in the media or politics are selling it. What we need are leaders who can properly articulate property rights. What citizen doesn’t naturally want to control their own property? Most would grant that freedom to others, by extension, if the situation was properly framed.
BTW, I think there’s a way to properly satisfy all but the most ardent anti-smoking advocates here. Let businesses decide, but require them to post whether or not they allow smoking (to satisfy those who claim to suffer injury if they are exposed to second-hand smoke).
Illinois is a blue state, you have no reason to expect good government, just crony government.
Does the Illinois law require signs posted at every public location with a phone number for reporting your fellow citizen to the State (just like Ohio)?
Then it's the organization's responsibility to enforce their policy. Substituting government legislation for their inaction is not the answer. The place to start would be pointing out to management that those people are flaunting their rules. And their disrespect impacts everyone there.
Leaving aside the rights argument for a moment, surely you can acknowledge that the predicted downturn in business for restaurants and bars has failed to materialize in states that have enacted similar bans in the past.
“Taking away business property rights and treating adults like children is not good government.”
but it’s what government does.
Racer1: “Cigarettes kill plain and simple. If people would be responsible about it this wouldn’t be an issue, but most are not.”
So, pass a law that forces people to behave? Here’s a concept. Why not work with your employer to solve the problem or find a different job where the business doesn’t rely on clients who smoke?
Oh, I see it does. What a lovely way to treat each other. They even have the sign in Spanish. How nice.
http://www.idph.state.il.us/smokefree/Smoke-FreeSign.pdf
Kind of reminds you of a certain group of Germans, doesn’t it?
That is irrelevant. First, even if what you say is true for the big picture, what if I own a particular kind of bar where my patrons are mostly made up of smokers? My revenue will certainly drop. Second, you can’t “leave aside the rights argument” ... it is the primary reason why this law is flawed.
Good or Bad for Ill? Probably
( I am so cynical in my old age, sorry. Just plan cynical. )
Yes the NAZIs are alive and well in USA. Sad.
| 32.9% |
| 67.1% |
My mother in law never smoked and had breast cancer and then later died of Lupus. Her brother never smoked and died of lung cancer. My grandmother smoked and lived to a ripe old age. I think there is more to it than just smoking killing people. I don’t think it is good for you, but I don’t think it is the killer it is made out to be. I think liberals just don’t like the smell. But they smoke cigars at home, like Clinton did. Oh yeah, he didn’t smoke it he poked it.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana
If it wasn’t for Chicago, Illinois would be a great place to live.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Mike Royko once said that without Chicago Illinois would be just another Iowa. Throw us in that brier patch, please.
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