No Smoking!

Banning smoking in bars and restaurants seems to be the Left’s latest crusade to tell the rest of us what is and what is not good for us. Judging by the following list, it seems that they are doing a magnificent job…

Arizona: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

California: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants (Surprised?)

Colorado: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Connecticut: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Delaware: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Hawaii: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Idaho: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Illinois: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Iowa: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Louisiana: Bans smoking in all restaurants

Maine: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Maryland: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Massachusetts: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Minnesota: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Montana: Bans smoking in all restaurants and, coming October 1, 2009, all bars as well.

Nebraska: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants, effective June 1, 2009.

New Hampshire: Bans smoking in all bars (except private clubs) and restaurants

New Jersey: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

New Mexico: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

New York: Bans smoking in all bars (except private clubs) and restaurants

Ohio: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Oregon: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Rhode Island: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Utah: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Vermont: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Washington: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

Washington D.C.: Bans smoking in all bars and restaurants

These are on top of the myriad of local and county bans around the country…that list being far too expansive to mention here.

Now, I am not a smoker, in fact I have never even taken a drag off a cigarette in my entire life. That being said; I could not be more opposed to these smoking bans.

First, let’s just recognize these bans for what they are; attempts by the Left to harm businesses and further limit our personal freedoms… all done in the guise of “health concerns.”

Why should the government be able to walk into an establishment and tell its owner that they have to prohibit a legal activity from being practiced in their private business?

What if most of their patrons smoke and this ban would therefore jeopardize their business?

Well, I guess that’s just too bad, isn’t it?

Oh and by the way, let’s not forget these states will still get fat off cigarette taxes…but that’s fair, right?

Look, I hate cigarettes. I find them disgusting and dirty, but that opinion does not matter as smoking remains a legal activity. If an owner of a bar or restaurant wants to grant their patrons the permission to puff away, then they should be able to, simple as that.

Instead of passing smoking bans, why don’t we just let the market work this out?

Last time I checked, there are no laws prohibiting any businesses from going smoke-free, so if there is a demand for smoke-free establishments, they will open.

Why?

Simple, they will be profitable.

The people that enjoy a smokeless evening will undoubtedly frequent these smoke-free bars and restaurants.

Conversely, if there is an influx of smoke-free bars and restaurants, then the businesses that allow smoking will become more popular as so many people smoke.

See how everything can be worked out…and without the government getting involved!

I know nowadays, that’s a novel concept.

If these smoking bans continue (and, of course they will; I’m not that delusional to think that they won’t), a dangerous precedent for governmental interference will continue to be set.

Pretty soon, you may see state or local (hell, maybe even federal) municipalities saying what type of food a restaurant can or cannot serve. In fact, this is already happening with the ban on Trans fats.

Then what? I honestly believe the following restrictions and bans could be on the way…all mandated by the government, mind you:

· Bars will have to limit the amount of alcohol they put into the drinks they serve.

· All restaurants (not just major chains) will have to provide full nutritional information including all ingredients of everything on their menu.

· Bars will only be allowed to play music at certain decibel levels.

· Restaurants will have to adhere to strict portion sizes in the meals they serve.

· Bars will have to close earlier.

I hope I’m wrong about all of these, but don’t be surprised to see some, if not all enacted in the next three to five years.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

You can’t say that!

Of all of President Bush’s “sins” in the eyes of those on the Left, his supposed barrage on our personal freedoms was certainly one of their most despised.

According to these people, free speech, the very foundation of our republic, was under constant attack by President Bush and his evil henchmen, with laws and programs like the Patriot Act and the NAS wiretaps.

Judging by the recent deeds and words of those on the Left, however, you’d think that they were quite fond of restricting personal freedoms, particularly free speech.

You can see this is numerous arenas, but especially over the country’s radio waves.

There is now a debate whether the “Fairness Doctrine” should be reinstated due to the utter dominance of conservative talk radio. Liberals claim that the country needs the Fairness Doctrine to level the playing field regarding the talk radio industry.

If you are not familiar with it, the Fairness Doctrine is not really a document. It is an abandoned policy by the FCC to regulate the content of the nation’s broadcasters to ensure both sides of an issue are heard.

While on paper, this policy seems to make sense, in the real world, it doesn’t hold water. To support this policy, one must believe that, in this case, radio stations are colluding to stop liberal viewpoints from being discussed.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There’s one simple reason radio stations air so much conservative programming…it’s profitable.

What the liberals that support the Fairness Doctrine fail to understand is that conservative talk radio is wildly popular and liberal talk radio simply isn’t. This is not an opinion formed by my conservative ideologies; this is a fact…just look at the ill-conceived Air America and the enormous contracts of conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

If conservative talk radio was not a cash cow for radio stations, they would pull it in a second and broadcast more listener-friendly programming to drive ratings.

Believe me, if there were any liberal talk radio hosts that were as popular and generated the same ratings as their conservative counterparts, there would be more airtime given to them.

That’s not what Dick Durbin, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi would lead you to believe however. They seem to believe that conservative radio is yet another right-wing conspiracy to stop the free flow of ideas.

What rubbish.

An interesting closing note on this section; you don’t hear liberals trying to extend the Fairness Doctrine to apply to television, magazines or newspapers.

Hmmm... I wonder why.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John