“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserves neither liberty nor safety” is a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
A state wide smoking ban was approved in vote by the Texas House of Representatives last Friday night. This bans smoking in all establishments and businesses in the state. Bars, restaurants, any kind of building fall under this power grab.
Power grab? Yes. The representatives voting in favor of this amendment are taking power away from private businesses and owners across the state. Who are they to tell anyone how to run a business? Who are they to limit choices for customers?
The smoking ban measure was offered as an amendment by Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Lake Dallas). She filed similar legislation for several sessions. The measure passed with a vote of 73-66. It still must make it through the Senate-House final negotiating process on SB 1811.
Did you see that information after the representative's name? Yes. Crownover is a Republican. As a Republican woman, this irks me the most. Democrats want to socially engineer human behavior, not Republicans. Democrats love to boost 'sin' taxes when they need additional revenue, whether it is adding taxes to tobacco or liquor sales or even adding more taxes to gas at the pump so drivers will cut back on driving their cars. Democrats are in the business of behavior modification, not Republicans.
Crownover added the amendment in a fiscal matters bill, SB 1811 (Amendment 53). She claims it will save the state millions of dollars in Medicaid costs.
Whatever the reasoning, it is wrong.
Reps. Gary Elkins (R-Houston) and Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) spoke eloquently Friday night of the principles of individual freedom in this country. Where did common sense go? Where did personal responsibility go? Where did treating adults as grown-ups go? We need less government finger wagging in our faces, not more.
Adults can make their own decisions, thank you very much.
2 comments:
The right to throw my fists around ends at your nose. The right to bear arms and shoot firearms ends when it harms others. There are a lot of rights that aren't rights when done in public. You can drink, you can drive, but you can't drink and drive. You can smoke, but frankly it is not just rude to smoke on other people, it is one of the most harmful activities in our society. Individuals should have the liberty not to breathe secondhand smoke in public.
Liberty doesn't mean doing anything you want, whenever you want, wherever you want. Liberty involves responsibility and must take into account the liberty of others as well.
When the decision to smoke comes into conflict with the liberty to not breathe that smoke, the liberty to not breathe that smoke must win out.
Who has the right to tell a person that owns their own business what they can do? If you don't like smokers don't go in there, real simple.... I don't drink. I don't want to go in where people are drinking, how about stoping all that????
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