[Judith Anne]

I'd like to, one time in my life, walk to Washington D.C. carrying signs and literature protesting the incredible mass of regulations, rules, and laws that the ordinary American trying to make a living MUST follow.

I'm screaming angry about this. We're buried--buried in a mass of freaking rules that are so complex and mostly contradictory that we can't even live day to day without breaking a number of the freaking laws--it's everywhere! It's all the way from medical care and the massive volumes of paperwork required for the simplest payment for the simplest healing act, the volumes of laws businesses must follow even BEFORE any doors are opened to try to sell something, the OSHA regulations, the EPA regulations, the FDA regulations, the Housing regulations, the TAX regulations--federal, state, county, city--

And now they want to add another steaming mound to something as simple as making, selling, and lighting a cigarette!

WHERE DOES IT END? WHEN DOES THE GOVERNMENT STOP REGULATING AND TAXING EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR EXISTENCE FROM THE VERY AIR YOU BREATHE TO THE WAY YOU ARE BURIED?????

[Judith Anne]

Sorry, I forgot the /rant.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken....There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't 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? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

-- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Ch. III, "White Blackmail"

[Mears]

You can rant all you want,everything you said makes sense. The over regulation of everything in our daily lives drives me nuts!!!!!!!

I go back many years and remember when the words "personal responsibility" meant something.I can take care of myself and my loved ones without the government telling me how to do it.If I make some mistakes it's my problem and no one eles.