Posted on 02/22/2010 12:39:27 PM PST by Left Blue NJ for Red SC
It is obvious that few, including Congress, understand that America is a Constitutional Republic and not a Pure Democracy. The reason: Our founders, in their infinite wisdom, made it so that mob rule cannot reign. So that mobocracy does not occur and individuals, even a minority in number, are protected from a tyranny of the majority. This is supposed to be done by checks, such as actually following that pesky old Constitution and not legislating morality or behavior.
Well, apparently the beliefs upon which our Nation was founded go right out the window if you simply don’t like something. I speak of smoking bans, which have now gone so far as to ban smoking OUTSIDE. No, really. In Seattle, natch (excerpt from Reason.com):
“The negative health effects of tobacco are well documented. As an agency that has a fundamental mission to support the health and well-being of Seattle residents, it is appropriate and beneficial to prohibit the use of tobacco products at parks and park facilities.”In other words, Gallagher is intent on using his power as parks superintendent not only to protect park patrons from the occasional whiff of someone else’s cigarette smoke but to protect them from the ill effects of their own unhealthy habits.
Anyone who believes in freedom and liberty should be outraged that the rights of private citizens and business owners are being usurped, all for “your own good”. And, if you oppose Obamacare, you should oppose smoking bans. It has nothing to do with whether or not you personally smoke. It has everything to do with freedom.
Where are the rallying cries of “My body, My choice”? The cries of “Stay out of our bedrooms”? The new cries are Stay out of my uterus, but come on into my lungs?
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
None of the smokenazis can see the truth. I look for this to be a contentious thread. Congratulations!
This only seems contradictory. If you live in the Leftist illusion, anything that advances their power is “truth” anything that impedes them is “false”. A “fact” can become a “falsehood” based on the political situation of the day.
They don’t call them Busybodies for nothing.
the neighborhood pest that tries to tell everyone else how to live.
Ofcourse we now have homeowners assosciations that can take your property.
Democracy: Four wolves and three sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Statism is statism. One legal precedent matures into another.
“A ‘fact’ can become a ‘falsehood’ based on the political situation of the day.”
Of course. And this can occur with full acknowlegement, yet without contradiction. It’s not an easy trick. But it can be mastered. Orwell dubbed it “doublethink”.
The state must quit making huge profits on the taxes they charge on tobacco.
“After German doctors became the first to identify the link between smoking and lung cancer, Nazi Germany initiated a strong anti-tobacco movement and led the first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history. Anti-tobacco movements grew in many nations from the beginning of the 20th century, but these had little success, except in Germany, where the campaign was supported by the government after the Nazis came to power. It was the most powerful anti-smoking movement in the world during the 1930s and early 1940s. The National Socialist leadership condemned smoking and several of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Research on smoking and its effects on health thrived under Nazi rule and was the most important of its type at that time. Adolf Hitler’s personal distaste for tobacco and the Nazi reproductive policies were among the motivating factors behind their campaign against smoking, and this campaign was associated with both antisemitism and racism.
“The Nazi anti-tobacco campaign included banning smoking in trams, buses and city trains, promoting health education, limiting cigarette rations in the Wehrmacht, organizing medical lectures for soldiers, and raising the tobacco tax. The National Socialists also imposed restrictions on tobacco advertising and smoking in public spaces, and regulated restaurants and coffeehouses. The anti-tobacco movement did not have much effect in the early years of the Nazi regime and tobacco use increased between 1933 and 1939, but smoking by military personnel declined from 1939 to 1945. Even by the end of the 20th century, the anti-smoking movement in postwar Germany had not attained the influence of the Nazi anti-smoking campaign.”
Sound familiar?
“The state must quit making huge profits on the taxes they charge on tobacco.”
It is hard for me to think of the “State” making profits. That seems to imply consent, and a free market. I tend to think of them as confiscating funds. This is not meant to imply that I think taxation is not required to support the government, only that it is a necessary evil.
It’s only the beginning. Michelle Obama this weekend mentioned several things bad for our children and these companies must change. Because our children are too fat and it is a national security issue. They can’t get in the military fat she says.
Soda, fast food is next. Because Michelle and Barack went through fast food restaurants too many times. And because SEIU wants gvmt money to help out with their power grab.
Liberals: “But hey, let’s legalize marijuana for taxes.Put down that cigarette. This is much better. It will make kool-aid go down easier too.”
You can’t make this stuff up!
Hence my claim that America is now a Hitlerian Society.
Today the Smokers, tomorrow, You?
According to Harry Reid taxes are voluntary. I am not feeling very philanthropic lately. *wink*
How many pet programs are based on the collection windfall of tobacco taxes?
I consider the tax revenue profit, otherwise the excess money would not be reinvested.
In business we use the term “gross receipts” to base expansion decisions.
How could government not be operated as a business when every principle of business operation is included in government accounting and disbursements?
“How could government not be operated as a business when every principle of business operation is included in government accounting and disbursements?”
I believe your assertion above to be false. I am not saying that you are dishonest, merely mistaken. Every principle of business operation is *not* followed in government accounting and disbursements. I have worked in the federal bureaucracy for decades. The most important difference is that the incentives in the federal bureaucracy are exactly opposite from what they are in private business. The incentive in government is to spend more and more and more. Saving money is only an illusion sometimes put up when more money is spent somewhere else than at your department.
I believe I am accurate, and we are not far apart. I have sent through countless budget hearings in state legislative committees.
Government, like private business, projects revenue based on tangents. Gross receipts are then budgeted to each department based first on need, then requests, and reasons for additional budget items. Business cannot expand without projected increases of revenue based upon experience, and the demonstrated need for the expansion.
The only difference between government and private business is that government has no incentive to save, only break even. both government and business can go bankrupt for not adhering to good fiscal planning and spending beyond their means.
State governments are run much more like businesses than the Federal government is, because the Federal government has the power of the printing press, and is further removed from the people.
A basic difference between the Federal Government and private business, is the lack of an independent auditor.
There is no auditor of the Federal Government accounting practices that is independent of the Federal Government.
Freedom: three well armed sheep contesting the results of the vote.
It's like the fox guarding the chicken coop. I totally agree.
All my experience is with the state. The other difference between the state and federal government is that in my state, I have daily access to almost every capital activity as does every citizen. Washington DC is nearly inaccessible to common folk and they don't feel accountable.
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