One of the biggest questions that needs to be asked today is “Who are we?” I was raised to believe that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. That freedom has become harder to find these days mostly because we, as a people, weren’t brave enough to stand up and protect our freedom. There is also a certain degree of selfishness. As long as the latest assault didn’t affect you personally…did you stand up and say “No, this is wrong”? Did you vote for people that proposed raising taxes on “millionaires” simply because you were not a millionaire or did you ask your government “what have you done with the trillions you have already spent?” Does it bother you to know that the millionaire’s tax you voted for kicks in at an annual income of $250,000 or is that still high enough that it doesn’t affect you? Better yet…do you really believe that as the revenue stream from these “quarter-of-a-millionaires” dries up that, eventually, the government won’t have to redefine a “millionaire” again as someone whose income is a little closer to your own?
I warned years ago when a slew of sin taxes were proposed on tobacco products that no matter where you stand on the habit of smoking, that this was a bad idea. The tobacco taxes weren’t really about forcing people to quit, they were about a new source of revenue. As more people realized the hazards associated with smoking, many quit and smoker’s numbers were steadily falling when these new sin taxes were proposed. When it came time to pass the tax, the smokers opposing the tax were in the minority and the tax passed easily. That really wasn’t a surprise because by then, government had already learned how to create support by labeling the target group. This time it wasn’t the greedy rich people we were going to tax but those inconsiderate smokers. In fact, this wasn’t about saving their lives anymore. The theory of second hand smoke had turned the issue away from using sin taxes to encourage healthy choices, into punishing smokers for engaging in a habit that could affect your heath, not to mention raise your health insurance costs because of their increased medical demands.
I said then that this was just the trial balloon. If we would authorize the government to use the tax system to force lifestyle changes where smoking was concerned, then we had just given them the authority to control any personal choice that government deemed unhealthy or dangerous. People thought I was being ridiculous then and some even said I was bordering on becoming a conspiracy theorist. Unfortunately, my vindication can be found in the pages of the healthcare bill and in local newspapers. The new healthcare bill adds a tax for sugary beverages and tanning salons because they are bad for you. California is now proposing a new “junk food” tax; and if you think that won’t become popular enough to be considered by every cash-strapped State and City government, then think again. I will bet you anything right now that it will even be considered as a new revenue source for the healthcare bill before the plan is fully implemented in 2014. After all, the healthcare bill has already changed the definition of a millionaire to be any individual that makes more that two-hundred thousand dollars or any married couple making more than two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Ink can be very powerful in Washington.
Now that we have vilified smokers, some would like to take that even further. Brooksville, Florida has just announced that it is looking at plans to crack down on smokers in the most egregious display of an abuse of power ever perpetrated by a municipality. During Monday's 5:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall, council members will consider a tobacco policy that forbids smoking or chewing the substance on city property, in city-owned vehicles and personal vehicles that are on city property or are being used for a city function. The policy would apply to city employees and the public alike.
City employees would have one year to quit smoking or chewing tobacco or face disciplinary action that includes termination "Depending on the facts and circumstances of each infraction." Employees could also pay to participate in a smoking cessation program on their own time. Applicants that admit to using tobacco would be denied employment altogether. This is an outrage and people that believe that America is still a free nation and that government has no business interfering in our personal choices should speak out loudly and without reservation. Just as the sin taxes are now being expanded to junk foods and sugary beverages; this is not as much about smoking as it is a direct assault on personal liberty that will more than likely be expanded as well.
The overweight contribute as mightily to the cost of healthcare as smokers do and in fact, as the high taxes on tobacco products reduce the number of people that smoke in this country, some have already claimed that obesity now exceeds smoking as the number one cause of preventable death in America. Those sources also state that obesity related illnesses have already reached parity with smoking in the amount of healthcare dollars used to treat the affects of bad personal choices. Is it a really absurd that one day Brooksville might decide the cost of providing health insurance for the obese had become too prohibitive? Does the American’s with Disabilities Act cover Americans that have “chosen” to become disabled because of their eating habits? Before anyone gets confused, I am not advocating that the obese should become the new target for government oppression but I have more than a sneaky feeling that your Federal government is about to open that door and the States will follow suit.
Don’t forget that after the healthcare bill was signed Nancy Pelosi said that “this is more about diet than diabetes.” Well, that isn’t possible unless Nancy knows that the new law intends to write your diet for you somewhere in the thousands of regulations and directives that have yet to be written by the healthcare advisory board created by the legislation. Michelle Obama has publicly made her cause the fight against childhood obesity and surely, the government will now reflect that battle in their new guidelines for school lunch and fitness programs. The healthcare bill already includes a hefty sum for play yard equipment designed specifically to promote healthy activities.
Again, health is something that should not be taken for granted. A healthy lifestyle can spell the difference between a long and productive life and a long and debilitating illness. The information is out there already and people, so far, have made choices based on their personal beliefs. If we allow government to make those choices for us, or if you believe government should have the power to exclude smokers from even earning a living, then where will it end? Will we have to surrender contact sports and motorcycles? Will high-heels and roller blades be banned? What about the potential for the spread of disease? Since the policy being considered by Brooksville reaches into people’s homes by saying if you use tobacco in any form, at any time and in any place, you cannot work for the City then is stands to reason that allowing this to stand invites the government into our homes to control even more behavior. The worst part about this is that the City and not society, would then establish what in safe and what is not. They would determine your health and welfare choices based on their criteria, not yours.
Suppose they determine that speech could be dangerous because of the anger it could possibly incite? There goes the First Amendment. Guns can be very dangerous depending on whose finger is on the trigger…should we ban guns because of the health implications….goodbye Second Amendment. Ridiculous? With this ban on smoking and the City of Brooksville already planning on testing people to make sure they aren’t smoking at home…where is your Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure? Where is the sovereignty of your person and property? Where the hell is the Constitution?
So the question again is “Who are we?” What is the America you believe in? Have we surrendered so many of our rights already that the government is already poised to take more based on the precedent set by our silence with sin taxes. After all if you can tax it, you can control it and if you control it, you can ban it and if you ban it….America just isn’t America anymore, now is it?
Paul
I warned years ago when a slew of sin taxes were proposed on tobacco products that no matter where you stand on the habit of smoking, that this was a bad idea. The tobacco taxes weren’t really about forcing people to quit, they were about a new source of revenue. As more people realized the hazards associated with smoking, many quit and smoker’s numbers were steadily falling when these new sin taxes were proposed. When it came time to pass the tax, the smokers opposing the tax were in the minority and the tax passed easily. That really wasn’t a surprise because by then, government had already learned how to create support by labeling the target group. This time it wasn’t the greedy rich people we were going to tax but those inconsiderate smokers. In fact, this wasn’t about saving their lives anymore. The theory of second hand smoke had turned the issue away from using sin taxes to encourage healthy choices, into punishing smokers for engaging in a habit that could affect your heath, not to mention raise your health insurance costs because of their increased medical demands.
I said then that this was just the trial balloon. If we would authorize the government to use the tax system to force lifestyle changes where smoking was concerned, then we had just given them the authority to control any personal choice that government deemed unhealthy or dangerous. People thought I was being ridiculous then and some even said I was bordering on becoming a conspiracy theorist. Unfortunately, my vindication can be found in the pages of the healthcare bill and in local newspapers. The new healthcare bill adds a tax for sugary beverages and tanning salons because they are bad for you. California is now proposing a new “junk food” tax; and if you think that won’t become popular enough to be considered by every cash-strapped State and City government, then think again. I will bet you anything right now that it will even be considered as a new revenue source for the healthcare bill before the plan is fully implemented in 2014. After all, the healthcare bill has already changed the definition of a millionaire to be any individual that makes more that two-hundred thousand dollars or any married couple making more than two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Ink can be very powerful in Washington.
Now that we have vilified smokers, some would like to take that even further. Brooksville, Florida has just announced that it is looking at plans to crack down on smokers in the most egregious display of an abuse of power ever perpetrated by a municipality. During Monday's 5:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall, council members will consider a tobacco policy that forbids smoking or chewing the substance on city property, in city-owned vehicles and personal vehicles that are on city property or are being used for a city function. The policy would apply to city employees and the public alike.
City employees would have one year to quit smoking or chewing tobacco or face disciplinary action that includes termination "Depending on the facts and circumstances of each infraction." Employees could also pay to participate in a smoking cessation program on their own time. Applicants that admit to using tobacco would be denied employment altogether. This is an outrage and people that believe that America is still a free nation and that government has no business interfering in our personal choices should speak out loudly and without reservation. Just as the sin taxes are now being expanded to junk foods and sugary beverages; this is not as much about smoking as it is a direct assault on personal liberty that will more than likely be expanded as well.
The overweight contribute as mightily to the cost of healthcare as smokers do and in fact, as the high taxes on tobacco products reduce the number of people that smoke in this country, some have already claimed that obesity now exceeds smoking as the number one cause of preventable death in America. Those sources also state that obesity related illnesses have already reached parity with smoking in the amount of healthcare dollars used to treat the affects of bad personal choices. Is it a really absurd that one day Brooksville might decide the cost of providing health insurance for the obese had become too prohibitive? Does the American’s with Disabilities Act cover Americans that have “chosen” to become disabled because of their eating habits? Before anyone gets confused, I am not advocating that the obese should become the new target for government oppression but I have more than a sneaky feeling that your Federal government is about to open that door and the States will follow suit.
Don’t forget that after the healthcare bill was signed Nancy Pelosi said that “this is more about diet than diabetes.” Well, that isn’t possible unless Nancy knows that the new law intends to write your diet for you somewhere in the thousands of regulations and directives that have yet to be written by the healthcare advisory board created by the legislation. Michelle Obama has publicly made her cause the fight against childhood obesity and surely, the government will now reflect that battle in their new guidelines for school lunch and fitness programs. The healthcare bill already includes a hefty sum for play yard equipment designed specifically to promote healthy activities.
Again, health is something that should not be taken for granted. A healthy lifestyle can spell the difference between a long and productive life and a long and debilitating illness. The information is out there already and people, so far, have made choices based on their personal beliefs. If we allow government to make those choices for us, or if you believe government should have the power to exclude smokers from even earning a living, then where will it end? Will we have to surrender contact sports and motorcycles? Will high-heels and roller blades be banned? What about the potential for the spread of disease? Since the policy being considered by Brooksville reaches into people’s homes by saying if you use tobacco in any form, at any time and in any place, you cannot work for the City then is stands to reason that allowing this to stand invites the government into our homes to control even more behavior. The worst part about this is that the City and not society, would then establish what in safe and what is not. They would determine your health and welfare choices based on their criteria, not yours.
Suppose they determine that speech could be dangerous because of the anger it could possibly incite? There goes the First Amendment. Guns can be very dangerous depending on whose finger is on the trigger…should we ban guns because of the health implications….goodbye Second Amendment. Ridiculous? With this ban on smoking and the City of Brooksville already planning on testing people to make sure they aren’t smoking at home…where is your Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure? Where is the sovereignty of your person and property? Where the hell is the Constitution?
So the question again is “Who are we?” What is the America you believe in? Have we surrendered so many of our rights already that the government is already poised to take more based on the precedent set by our silence with sin taxes. After all if you can tax it, you can control it and if you control it, you can ban it and if you ban it….America just isn’t America anymore, now is it?
Paul
Very interesting discussion you have going here. Gives us food for thought for sure.
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