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A nation choking on endless laws
NY Post ^ | January 6, 2011 | MICHAEL A. WALSH

Posted on 01/07/2011 3:15:08 AM PST by Scanian

Heading back to work this week, Americans were greeted not only by a new year but also by a whole slew of new laws -- 31,000 of them at the state level -- covering everything from guns to 100-watt light bulbs to, of course, "health care." As usual, most of these laws tell us what we can't do: texting while driving (duh), cyberbullying and smoking in bars.

In the near future, everyone will be a criminal for at least 15 minutes, whether they know it or not.

But aside from some laws easing state restrictions on lawful gun ownership, precious few of them tell the government what it can't do. To the ruling class, there is almost nothing the government, at some level, can't do -- not only via legislation, but regulation as well. Two recent examples come to mind:

First, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, under Lisa Jackson, has decided that its mandate now includes the very air we exhale -- carbon dioxide --and is introducing stringent standards to help fight such "pollutants" and so-called greenhouse gases.

Never mind that the "science" is far from settled, that the Climategate e-mails showed active collusion among researchers to misrepresent the facts about alleged "global warming," that some of the 1,700 British scientists who signed a declaration defending the researchers' professional integrity have said they felt pressured into doing it (or didn't work on "climate change" at all) and that Al Gore is a certified crackpot.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bureaucrats; epa; fcc; healthcare; lightbulbs; rulingclass

1 posted on 01/07/2011 3:15:13 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Scanian

“Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by Tyrants” —William Penn


2 posted on 01/07/2011 4:04:23 AM PST by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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To: Scanian

“Americans were greeted not only by a new year but also by a whole slew of new laws — 31,000 of them at the state level”

I guess you know how I feel about it.


3 posted on 01/07/2011 5:18:44 AM PST by toomanylaws
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To: Scanian
In the near future, everyone will be a criminal for at least 15 minutes, whether they know it or not.

I plan on getting a lot longer than fifteen minutes from my criminality.

4 posted on 01/07/2011 5:37:34 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can.)
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To: Scanian
No one posted this yet?

Did you really think we want those laws observed? said Dr. Ferris. We want them to be broken. Youd better get it straight that its not a bunch of boy scouts youre up against... Were after power and we mean it... Theres no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there arent enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? Whats there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers and then you cash in on guilt. Now thats the system, Mr. Reardon, thats the game, and once you understand it, youll be much easier to deal with.

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 1957

5 posted on 01/07/2011 7:11:42 AM PST by Peet (Leftists think personal liberty is so important it must be carefully rationed.)
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To: Scanian
Upon seeing this article, I decided to fire up one of the applications on my desktop that makes me a felon. You see, sometimes I like to listen to my MP3s while using my computer. The problem isn't that I 'stolen' the music or anything. No, I just happen to use an operating system (Linux) for which there is no legal way to install the codecs required for listening to MP3s. That makes me a felon. Oh! The Huge Manatee!

It's even worse if I have the audacity to actually want to watch one of my DVDs!

Life as a gangster. It's better than you think!

6 posted on 01/07/2011 7:18:16 AM PST by zeugma (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam)
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To: Scanian

Remember the mantra—ignorance of the law is no excuse? Well—good luck remembering all this crap.


7 posted on 01/07/2011 8:31:35 AM PST by WKUHilltopper (Fix bayonets!)
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To: Scanian
We are headed toward a binary societal State set where

That which is not outlawed

becomes mandatory.

8 posted on 01/07/2011 8:33:54 AM PST by ASOC (What are you doing now that Mexico has become OUR Chechnya?)
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To: Scanian

If ignorance of the law is no excuse, now there is also no reason not to make all the laws accessible to all citizens for free.

The digital technology is now available to make all laws accessible to all citizens electronically. They should pass a law that all laws be available electronically for free on the web and at libraries and all colleges and universities that receive public funding.

This would be the most democratizing action of the law in the history of the law itself.

Other addenda to this law are requested.


9 posted on 01/07/2011 8:39:17 AM PST by paulycy (The Constitution is a Formal Contract. Live up to it or lose your job, Congress.)
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