Kansas Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 3, 2009, to open certain records to the public regarding the identity of maternity center, family day care home, and child care facility licensees, but allowing the state to withhold such information under certain circumstances

The vote was 125 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 not voting

(House Roll Call 0 at House Journal 0)

Click here to view bill details.

 

government control.   How easily we are lured into supporting something that on the surface appears to be a very good thing but actually obscures something far more insidious.    Inch by inch we are losing our freedoms to live our lives as we choose.   Instead of taking on the responsibility for doing what needs to be done to change something we freely give the government more and more control over every aspect of our lives.   I ask you... WHAT IS NEXT?    Will we allow government to dictate to us whether we can eat certain foods or wear certain clothing or where we can or cannot go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a non-smoker who hates cigarette smoke, HOWEVER, what I hate even more than cigarette smoke is more government control over our daily lives.    We are so easily lured into supporting what on the surface seems to be a good thing but is actually something obscure and far more insidious.     Instead of taking the responsibility for trying to change things we willingly give the power to dictate what we can and cannot do to the government.

The hypocrisy in this legislation is ridiculous.    It does not allow smoking in restaurants or bars but  exempts casinos.   If smoking is dangerous to our health in restaurants why is it not equally as dangerous in casinos    Many of our senior citizens as well as people in all income categories enjoy going to casinos as well as restaurants.     It seems obvious to me that political considerations dictated this hypocrisy since the gambling has become a state approved activity.

When are we going to stop and think before we willingly give away more of our freedoms?   I hope that is today before it is too late.     Freedom is not free.   The price of freedom is constant vigilance.

 

 

 

The passage of this bill is just another step to taking away individual rights and sets a precedence for legislation that singles out groups of citizens. Anyone who has read this bill and researched the background of how smoking bans came to fruition through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, its Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, other anti-tobacco coalitions, and state and federal agencies should be worried about who is driving our government decisions. The result is that such bills became no less than a "hate" bills towards tobacco users. And it appears that this is not enough as they will, no doubt, next pass a law allowing insurance companies to exclude coverage to smokers, unless additional insurance is purchased. So for those people who have ever smoked during their lifetime, beware!  Yet comments by some of our "lawmakers" suggest that punishing tobacco users with higher taxes and punitive laws is "for their own good," and the people around them. (Except when it comes to smoking in state-owned casinos.) This puts me in mind of something C.S. Lewis wrote:

"Of all tyrannies, a tyrany exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satisfied; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

So who is next?

 

     

 Every legislator should be required to own or have previously owned a private business prior to running for office. HB2221 no smoking law is the newest addition to a long line of rules they seem to think private business should enforce for them and be fined if we dont. At least they should be required to listen to our employee responses when we publish each new rule. Common sense has left at the same pace as our freedom of choice.