- Oct 7, 2011
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Interesting article from Bob Barr. Just shows you how the Nanny/Police State isn't just a Socialist/Progresssive Democrat thing. Big Government Authoritarianism is all the rage in both Political Parties currently.
Nanny State Laws are popping up even in traditionally Conservative areas of the country.
State governments from California to Massachusetts and city councils from San Francisco to New York City enact nanny-state measures with such regularity that many of those measures go unnoticed (New York Mayor Michael Bloombergs recent move to ban large soft drinks being an exception). But in recent years, traditionally conservative states and municipalities have begun to enact their own nanny-state laws. This troubling new trend is a reminder of how much power those who prefer government control to individual freedom have in this country.
My home state of Georgia long a place where candidates and elected officials seeking re-election have earned their chops by railing against Washington busybodies has succumbed to the notion that the role of government is to protect people by controlling them. From small towns to the bustling and largely Republican-dominated Atlanta suburbs, helmet laws and smoking and texting bans are becoming the norm.
Last year, the Republican-dominated Georgia General Assembly enacted a ban on texting while driving despite numerous studies, including a 2010 report from the Highway Loss Data Institute, showing that such legislation does little to prevent crashes on the road.
Peach State legislators have also enacted laws limiting the sale of over-the-counter cold medications that happen to contain pseudoephedine, an ingredient used by a small number of drug dealers to make methamphetamine. Those same legislators also mandated the establishment of databases containing the names of purchasers of many such medications. And, not content with seat-belt laws long on the books, Georgia legislators recently went so far as to mandate that children as old as eight sit in government-defined car seats.
In the Atlanta suburb of Villa Rica, the city council recently tried to make it illegal to drive while talking on a cell phone unless the driver is using a hand-free device. The mayor vetoed the measure, but not because he believed it was a bad law. Rather, he vetoed it because in his view driving while talking on a cell phone is something that the state should address.
Closer to the state capitol, within the city of Atlanta itself, the Big Nanny crusade against smokers continues to expand even on private property...
Read more: Nanny State | The nanny state infects the Peach State | The Daily Caller
Nanny State Laws are popping up even in traditionally Conservative areas of the country.
State governments from California to Massachusetts and city councils from San Francisco to New York City enact nanny-state measures with such regularity that many of those measures go unnoticed (New York Mayor Michael Bloombergs recent move to ban large soft drinks being an exception). But in recent years, traditionally conservative states and municipalities have begun to enact their own nanny-state laws. This troubling new trend is a reminder of how much power those who prefer government control to individual freedom have in this country.
My home state of Georgia long a place where candidates and elected officials seeking re-election have earned their chops by railing against Washington busybodies has succumbed to the notion that the role of government is to protect people by controlling them. From small towns to the bustling and largely Republican-dominated Atlanta suburbs, helmet laws and smoking and texting bans are becoming the norm.
Last year, the Republican-dominated Georgia General Assembly enacted a ban on texting while driving despite numerous studies, including a 2010 report from the Highway Loss Data Institute, showing that such legislation does little to prevent crashes on the road.
Peach State legislators have also enacted laws limiting the sale of over-the-counter cold medications that happen to contain pseudoephedine, an ingredient used by a small number of drug dealers to make methamphetamine. Those same legislators also mandated the establishment of databases containing the names of purchasers of many such medications. And, not content with seat-belt laws long on the books, Georgia legislators recently went so far as to mandate that children as old as eight sit in government-defined car seats.
In the Atlanta suburb of Villa Rica, the city council recently tried to make it illegal to drive while talking on a cell phone unless the driver is using a hand-free device. The mayor vetoed the measure, but not because he believed it was a bad law. Rather, he vetoed it because in his view driving while talking on a cell phone is something that the state should address.
Closer to the state capitol, within the city of Atlanta itself, the Big Nanny crusade against smokers continues to expand even on private property...
Read more: Nanny State | The nanny state infects the Peach State | The Daily Caller
