http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nannystate/ en-us Mon, 6 Jul 2009 00:04:43 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286171/posts Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius responded to critics who contend that government-run health care will inevitably entail rationing. Conceding that national health systems in Canada and the United Kingdom have been forced to ration care for critically ill patients via lengthy waiting lists, Sebelius insisted that a similar outcome won’t happen here. “First, we will do a better job of managing health care resources,” Sebelius boasted. “Careful cost/benefit analysis will ensure that only those individuals with a positive ratio are scheduled for treatment. We won’t allow waiting lists to be clogged with persons whose cost of treatment exceeds... A Semi-News/Semi-Satire from AzConservative http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286171/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2009 00:04:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2285466/posts The health zealots at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a close ally of the food cops at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, have come out with the 2009 version of their obesity report card, grading America “F as in Fat.” But once again, the weight police ignored the opportunity to examine the whys behind increasing obesity rates before assigning the country a failing grade.From the report: Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Four states now have rates... ConsumerFreedom.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2285466/posts#comment Sat, 4 Jul 2009 16:00:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2285453/posts On July 4, 1776, America’s founding fathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence in an effort to affirm basic liberties. But they never dreamed that anyone would someday attempt to strip the American people of the fundamental liberty to control what we eat and drink. In the spirit of affirming this simple freedom, we offer our Declaration of Food Independence. Because, as we’re telling Arizona Daily Star readers today, the pursuit of happiness is a lot harder on an empty stomach. ConsumerFreedom.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2285453/posts#comment Sat, 4 Jul 2009 15:45:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284933/posts The Government has been accused of fixing the outcome of public consultations on health policy after it emerged that reviews were flooded with block votes from groups funded entirely by the taxpayer. Earlier this month the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, announced that the display of cigarettes and tobacco in shops would be banned in England and Wales from 2011. He added that people wanting to buy cigarettes from vending machines would in future have to show proof of age to obtain a token to activate the machine, and machines could be banned altogether in the future. Mr Johnson boasted that... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284933/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 17:06:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284640/posts Americans will celebrate their freedom on Independence Day with a certain irony tomorrow. Not all Americans have the freedom to celebrate the holiday with the traditional festive bang. That's because many places ban fireworks. Although about 94 million of us live in states that allow all sorts of fireworks and firecracker use, 43 million Americans live in six states - including New York and New Jersey - where you need a permit to even light a sparkler. California bans some types of fireworks and allows cities to expand what is prohibited. Safety is supposedly the major concern of those who... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284640/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:26:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282685/posts President Obama announced tougher energy efficiency requirements for certain types of fluorescent and incandescent lighting on Monday, the latest step in the administration’s push to cut the country’s energy use. The new rule , scheduled to take effect in 2012, will cut the amount of electricity used by affected lamps by 15 to 25 percent and save $1 billion to $4 billion a year for consumers, the White House said. “Now I know light bulbs may not seem sexy,” Mr. Obama said, “but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282685/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:23:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282574/posts Citing the cereal’s claim that incorporating Cheerios into a daily diet could lower cholesterol by up to 4% within 6 weeks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced proposed regulations that would require buyers to obtain a doctor’s prescription before they would be allowed to purchase the product. “Lowering cholesterol is a medical outcome,” FDA spokesperson, Susan Cruzan pointed out. “As such, it comes under our jurisdiction. Other makers of cholesterol-lowering drugs must get FDA approval before marketing their products. To allow General Mills to skate on this would give them an unfair advantage.” Cruzan contended that “requiring consumers... A Semi-News/Semi-Satire from AzConservative http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282574/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:40:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2282443/posts YouTube video: Nanny Tax Rap YouTube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2282443/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:00:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282127/posts U.S. airlines, already trying to sell extra legroom and faster lines, are finding another innovation hard to push: second seats for overweight passengers. It's a very hard sell: On airlines such as Southwest and United, people who can't fit into 17-inch economy seats with the armrests down and their seat belts fastened must buy a second seat or they don't fly. US Airways and American Airlines are likely to offer free second seats, but on a full flight they make extra-large passengers pay for them. Fliers who have been compressed by their neighbors love the idea. "They should be required... The Seattle Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282127/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:46:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2260491/posts With the first days of Summer a long standing American tradition emerges anew from yards and garages all across the country. Once again this season we will see the venerable American garage sale bloom everywhere. Homeowners will be seen busily setting up folding tables or bringing picnic tables from back yards to load them up with used clothes, toys, collectibles, and items of all sorts. Couples will once again cruise the neighborhood looking to those bargains. It's as American as Baseball, and the rest. But a new player has been introduced to the venerable garage sale scheme and this one... Publius' Forum http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2260491/posts#comment Fri, 29 May 2009 13:47:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279756/posts Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) wants to ban a smoking device that several House Republicans have trumpeted for helping them quit smoking. The battery-operated device, known as an electronic cigarette, looks like a normal cigarette, but contains no tobacco and instead of smoke emits a nicotine vapor when the user inhales. Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) have all been spotted using the device on Capitol Hill. But the device, which is sold over the Internet and at select mall kiosks, needs to be tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it is deemed... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2279756/posts#comment Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:14:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277998/posts At his press conference this afternoon, President Obama, who calls himself a "former smoker," acknowledged that he still occasionally falls "off the wagon." The president said that he does not smoke in front of his kids or the rest of his family, and compared his situation to that of a recovering alcoholic. "I've said before that as a former smoker I constantly struggle with it," the president said. "Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No." "I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where, there... CBS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277998/posts#comment Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:19:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277791/posts B A controversial law in Massachusetts could go national if Congressman Barney Frank gets his way. Frank has filed a bill that would eliminate federal penalties for personal possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana. It would also make the penalty for using marijuana in public just $100. "I think John Stuart Mill had it right in the 1850s," said Congressman Frank, "when he argued that individuals should have the right to do what they want in private, so long as they don't hurt anyone else. It's a matter of personal liberty. Moreover, our courts are already stressed and... WBZ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277791/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:35:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277776/posts Uncle Sam Enters the Great Nanny State Debate By JOSEPH B. WHITE From President Barack Obama's first hour in office, he has been urging the American people to shape up. "The time has come to set aside childish things," the president said, quoting the Bible in his inaugural address. In his own words, he called for "a new era of responsibility." Since then, Mr. Obama and his allies in the Democratic Congress have been working on a wide range of proposals designed to encourage citizens to change their behavior in the realms of health, finance and the environment. Conservatives denounce... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277776/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:19:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277354/posts Glenn Greenwald is a civil rights attorney, a blogger for Salon, and the author of a new Cato Institute policy study called “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Policies.” The paper examines Portugal’s experiment with decriminalizing possession of drugs for personal use, which began in 2001. Nick Gillespie, editor of reason.com and reason.tv, sat down with Greenwald in April. Q: What is the difference between decriminalization and legalization?A: In a decriminalized framework, the law continues to prohibit drug usage, but it’s completely removed from the criminal sphere, so that if you violate that prohibition or do... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277354/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:59:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277138/posts PRINCETON, N.J., June 22 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans, especially smokers, said they disapprove of new laws expanding the government's regulatory power over tobacco, a poll indicated. By 52 percent to 46 percent, more respondents said they don't like the idea of government having greater authority over tobacco products, a Gallup Poll released Monday indicated. Congress last week passed such a measure last week. The poll indicated 69 percent of smokers said they disapproved, while 28 percent said they favored the broader government oversight. Views among non-smokers were closer, with 50 percent indicating approval and 48 percent indicating disapproval,... UPI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277138/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:40:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277079/posts The violence in Mexico is caused by prohibition, not firearms. Jacob Sullum | July 2009 Print Edition During his April visit to Mexico, President Barack Obama suggested that Americans are partly to blame for the appalling violence associated with the illegal drug trade there. “The demand for these drugs in the United States is what’s helping keep these cartels in business,” he said. “This war is being waged with guns purchased not here but in the United States.” Obama is right that the U.S. is largely responsible for the carnage in Mexico, which claimed more than 6,000 lives last year.... July 2009 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277079/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:14:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2277022/posts President Obama on Monday signed a landmark anti-smoking bill which he said will reduce the number of children who take up smoking and ultimately save American lives. The bill would give the federal government unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco. The law allows the regulatory Food and Drug Administration to reduce nicotine in tobacco products, ban candy flavorings and block labels such "low tar" and "light." Tobacco companies also will be required to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings. www.foxnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2277022/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:46:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276980/posts President Barack Obama signed into law Monday an anti-smoking bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco. Obama, who has struggled to quit smoking, signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act during an event Monday in the Rose Garden. "I know how difficult it can be to break this habit," Obama said. AOL http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276980/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:55:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276786/posts WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is set to sign into law an anti-smoking bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco. Obama is scheduled to sign the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act during an event Monday in the Rose Garden. The law allows the FDA to reduce nicotine in tobacco products, ban candy flavorings and block labels such "low tar" and "light." Tobacco companies also will be required to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings. google.com/hostednews/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276786/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:15:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276440/posts Legislation would impose a $100 fine for touching a GPS navigation screen while driving in New Jersey. A New Jersey state lawmaker wants to make it a crime for drivers to touch the screen of a satellite navigation device in a moving vehicle. Earlier this month, state Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Hudson) introduced legislation to expand the state's existing prohibition on using a cell phone behind the wheel. "This bill would amend current law to also prohibit the manual operation of a global positioning system (GPS) device or similar navigation device by the operator of a moving motor vehicle," the... thenewspaper.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276440/posts#comment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:51:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276236/posts "Live Free or Die" is the title of author and columnist Mark Steyn's speech at Hillsdale College, reproduced in Imprimis (April 2009), a Hillsdale publication that's free for the asking. Canadian-born, now living in New Hampshire, Steyn has had firsthand experience with socialist tyranny in his home country that is rapidly becoming a part of America. Commenting on one of his run-ins with Canada's human rights commissions, Steyn points how it might seem bizarre to find the progressive left making common cause with radical Islam. One half of that alliance is pro-gay, pro-feminist secularists and the other half is homophobic,... WND http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276236/posts#comment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:06:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276183/posts The latest verdict from the Food and Drug Administration is that Cheerios is a drug. Parents, then, must be drug pushers. The FDA sent a warning to Cheerios maker General Mills Inc. that it is in serious violation of federal rules. "Based on claims made on your product's label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease" the FDA letter said. "[Cheerios] may not be legally marketed with the above claims... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276183/posts#comment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:41:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276212/posts The great judge Learned Hand once said, "The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." If so, the tobacco regulation bill recently passed by Congress indicates that the spirit of liberty is even scarcer than usual in the halls of government. What motivates advocates of stricter tobacco regulation is the unassailable assurance that they are not only completely right but that their opponents are a) wrong and b) evil. This invigorating certitude makes it possible to justify almost anything that punishes cigarette companies, even if it does no actual good -- or... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276212/posts#comment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:22:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275992/posts Convenience stores and smoke shops are urging Cape Coral residents to stock up on cigarettes and other tobacco products before the state implements a $1 tobacco user fee on July 1. Perhaps one of the most publicized bills that passed the Florida Legislature this spring, the $1 user fee is levied against standard packs of 20 cigarettes and for other tobacco products - such as pipe or chewing tobacco - the surcharge will be 60 percent of the wholesale price. The measure is designed to combat teenage smoking and incidences of cancer associated with smoking, yet purveyors of tobacco and... Cape Coral DB http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275992/posts#comment Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:47:51 GMT