Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Nanny States of America: The Week in Big Government

Source:Wikipedia- The Nanny State of Britain.

"Nanny state is a term of British origin that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective or interfering unduly with personal choice.[1][2] The term likens such a government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing. An early use of the term comes from Conservative British Member of Parliament Iain Macleod who referred to "what I like to call the nanny state" in the 3 December 1965 edition of The Spectator.[3][4]

The term was popularised by journalists Bernard Levin[5] and Auberon Waugh[6] and later by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher."

From Wikipedia

"Congress took up one of the most divisive issues in politics Thursday as the House of Representatives rejected a controversial measure banning abortions based on the sex of a fetus.

In the House, 246 representatives backed the bill while 168 voted against it, leaving the proposal short of the two-thirds total necessary for passage. Most Republicans supported the measure; the majority of Democrats opposed it.

Supporters characterized the proposal as a necessary defense of the civil rights of unborn children; opponents called it part of a broader so-called war on women and an ongoing assault on legalized abortion."

Source:CNN- U.S. Representative Trent Franks (Republican, Arizona) sponsor of the antiabortion bill.

From CNN 

"A federal appeals court has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act – Congress's key legislation to block gay marriage – as unconstitutional in a ruling that will propel the issue to the supreme court.

The Boston-based first district appeals court upheld a lower court decision that gay marriage is a matter for individual states to decide and that the federal government does not have the authority to deny recognition of same-sex unions.

It is the highest court to date to strike down the 1996 act, known as Doma, which denies gay married couples federal benefits and protections given to heterosexuals such as health coverage, social security payments and medical leave. A host of states have passed their own bans on gay marriage, but eight states and the District of Columbia have authorised same-sex unions." 

Source:The Guardian- "Greg Kimball and Brian O'Connor kiss outside the Massachusetts state house in Boston in 2007...



From The Guardian 

"ABC News' George Will this morning slammed Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his proposed ban on certain sizes of sugary soda in New York City restaurants, movie theaters and delis, calling it an "irritable gesture" on "This Week."

"In one sentence he's got the essence of contemporary liberalism. That is something preposterous and something sinister," said Will, before quoting Bloomberg saying 'we're not taking away anyone's right to do things. We're simply forcing you to understand."'

Will admitted the United States faces an obesity problem, but argued that Bloomberg's solution is misguided.

"Regulating the size of these drinks at some outlets will do nothing about it (American obesity problem)…what this really says is, what Bloomberg is saying, the government helps with your healthcare, the government's implicated in your heath, therefore we own you."

Will went further, comparing the effort to regulate what people drink to the liberal effort to regulate people's energy use.

"This is one of the reasons liberals are so enamored of the issue of climate change. They say all our behavior in some way affects the climate," he said. "Therefore, the government - meaning, we, liberals, the party of government - can fine-tune all your behavior right down to the light bulbs you use."

ABC News contributor Donna Brazile expressed her support for Bloomberg, but admitted the proposed plan couldn't solve the American obesity problem.

"We have a public health crisis. Obesity is national problem. I don't think you can solve it by banning one of many sugary things out there," said Brazile. "All I can tell you is that this is a very serious concern and I commend the mayor for raising it and also giving you something to drink about," said Brazile." 

From ABC News 

"George Will and Donna Brazile debate Mayor Bloomberg's soda proposal."

Source:ABC News- This Week with George Will and Donna Brazile.

From ABC News

A Federal appeals court rules that DOMA, (the Defense of Marriage Act that President Clinton signed into law back in 1996 that the Republican Congress passed) that President Clinton now says was a mistake to sign into law, is ruled unconstitutional by a Federal appeals court. Because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A familiar ruling and why I predict that all same-sex marriage bans will be ruled unconstitutional in the future. 

Looks like women won't have to ask Uncle Sam's permission to use the bathroom or interfere with her and her doctor in decisions they make regarding her health. 

New York City bans sweet drinks. How Mayor Mike Bloomberg was ever a Republican, I'll never know. Lately he doesn't look like a Democrat either, but governing as a left-wing Nanny Statist. I would call him a Communist, but he's a billionaire and the only billionaire Communists are dictators. And whatever you think of Mayor Bloomberg, he's certainly not a Communist. (At least on economic policy)

Whether big government is coming from statists on the Far-Left or its coming from statists on the Far-Right, it's still big government. And it's too big, because it interferes with how free adults live their own lives, not how we live among each other. But how we live our lives as individuals. Whether it involves health care, with abortion or telling people they have to take government health insurance. Or outlawing same-sex marriage, because you don't like homosexuals and it violates your religious freedom to allow them to get married.

How same-sex marriage violates anything to me, is a mystery that could make for a good book or movie. And maybe I'll write about that in the future. Or telling people they can't have soft drinks, because it's unhealthy for them. Again, interfering with how free adults live their own lives.

We are a liberal democracy and because of that we have the liberty to live our own lives. Statists whether they are on the Far-Left or Far-Right, seem to have such boring lives, that minding their own damn business puts them to sleep. So they feel the need to mind other people's damn business, with what health care they can have, who they can marry, what they watch on TV, what they can eat and drink, etc. 

Big Government is also undemocratic because you are saying with these laws, that end up getting thrown out, is that you know best how to live the lives of the people you represent, better than them. 

We live in the United State of America, which is a liberal democracy. Americans are supposed to have the freedom here to live their own lives. Not interfere with the freedom and security of others, but to be able to make their own decisions for themselves. If individual freedom and free choice is too scary for you, I suggest that their countries that you might want to try in instead. The Communist Republic of Cuba is just 90 miles south of Florida. But you hear about or see people fleeing to Cuba to escape America. 

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