Place To Vent

[joshua]

Laws like the smoking bans which are popular these days aren't being passed by just liberals though. For example, the new york public smoking ban was introduced by republicans and governer Pataki is also republican.

[yarimurray]

It is clear by the right to life discussion in anther thread that the conservatives can intrude into our personal lives as well. Our diminishing freedom does not seem to be a liberal nor a conservative issue but rather a case of apathy and ignorance as has been mentioned ealier.

The only answer is to hold our elected officials (public servants?) acountable, be they Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative (and even independent). Those in office seem to think we are beholden to them and they have forgotten that they work for us. Unfortunately we have made it easy by failing to speak up when our rights and fredoms are eroded away little by little.

I hope that enough people wake up in time to turn the tide against the nanny state but I am unfortunately skeptical that things will change much despite government getting bigger and more influential in our lives.

Just my .02

Michael

[Amanda]

The most recent state to pass stringent smoking restrictions was the bright-red state of Georgia, signed by conservative Republican Governor Sonny Purdue after breezing on through the conservative (and I believe Republican) Georgia Legislature. Meanwhile, conservative cities like Lincoln, Nebraska; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and in the heart of tobacco country, Lexington, Kentucky, have all passed smoking bans in the last couple years. Republican Governors across the country, most recently in Minnesota, have jacked up tobacco taxes to fill budget holes.

Five years ago, the Republican Party was more likely to be on the right side of the smoking freedom issue. Those days are increasingly over, since the majority of voters in both parties have no interest in the rights and/or freedoms of smokers, and since we're not politically organized and thus wield virtually no lobbying power. The finally straw is likely to be passage of a Federal tobacco tax that could easily zip through the Republican House, the Republican Senate and the Republican President. Last year, the administration's Health and Human Services department gave the thumbs-up to a $2 per pack Federal tax on cigarettes.

Smokers are the political path of least resistance for both parties. Unless we figure out some way to organize and lobby like every other protected interest group, we'll continue to be walked all over no matter which political party is in charge.