Why is the government interfering in our lives, banning smoking,fried foods, etc?

Question

what business is it of the government whether we smoke, or eat fried foods, wear our seat belts, wear a helmet while riding a bicycle or motorcycle???? Now they want to tell you whether you can smoke in your own home or in your own car??? Why do smokers need to pay such a high price in taxes?? So we can have a better health care system?? Why don't the doctors and hospitals just lower their fees??? If everyone quit where would that revenue come from anyway??? In NY they are banning saturated fats, it should be my choice whether I want to eat it or not. Where does it end, I thought this was America????

Answer 1

Because liberal Dumbocrats want to get into every area of your life and CONTROL things. Thats why they want so many taxes. They think that THEY know whats best for you more than YOU do.

THEY know how you should spend your money!

It's all about POWER and CONTROL.

Butt OUT of my life!

*

Answer 2

the simple answer is that the government officials who pass such legislation believe it is in the best interest of the citizens.

Where do you draw the line? should asbestos be brought back on the market even though it is known to cause cancer?

The government also sees it as a cost saving measure, as the federal and state governments spend hundreds of billions on healthcare every year, and believe that if people are more healthy that they will save money.

They also see it as moral issue. If the government can pass a law that improves the health of the country, don't they have an obligation to do so?

I'm mostly posing questions here. I don't know the answers. I generally lean towards the side of freedom. Perhaps the govt should make sure people are well informed about the health risks of trans fat and smoking etc, but then leave it up to them to decide. Maybe the government should get out of the healthcare business, so they don't have conflicts like this. I don't think the constitution says anything about the govt. paying medical bills for people.

Answer 3

If you wish to label health and safety regulations as interference, that's your right, but you're missing the point. I spent the first half of my life having stinky, irritating cigarette smoke blown in my face by mannerless idiots who thought their "right" to smoke trumped my right to breathable air, and one of them was my mother! Even if cigarettes were good for you these smoking regulations are a step in the right direction. But they're *not* good for you, so the regulations make sense on a health basis, plus the higher taxes make sense in having you poor addicts pay for the cost of your destructive habit. And if you have kids and smoke around them, I don't know how you can live with yourself.

It might seem from the above that I would like to see tobacco outlawed, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm in favor of legalizing *every* recreational drug (and prostitution as well) then taxing, regulating and licensing it the way alcohol and tobacco already are. Legalization would also put violent drug gangs out of business and stop the wasteful "drug war" that has caused far more damage than the drugs themselves.

I had to get used to seat belt and helmet laws myself, but only because I was used to not having to think about them. Now using them has become automatic, because they are a damn good idea after all. How can any sensible person argue against them?

Everybody knows fried foods are bad for you too, or didn't you get that memo? The fact that laws are coming out against them probably means that they are far worse than anyone's been telling us. In this case, maybe they should only be taxed heavily instead of banned outright since they don't directly affect everyone in the vicinity the way cigarettes do. On the other hand, they do impact the cost of health care, and prevention is always better than cure.

It's still America, despite Bush and the neocons, but it's not the wild west any more. Or do you rant about the few wimpy gun control laws we have too, or our environmental protection laws that prevent you from fouling the neighborhood every time you want to make a few quick bucks at everyone else's expense?

PS: Right on, members thinkmove.. and LOW!

Answer 4

Why are the masses choosing behavior that puts tax increases on the general population?
FAT people means more medical cost, insurance companies charge more, hospital cost increase, work attendance decreases, productivity goes down, cost up, the public at large suffer.

Why do the public speed, drive drunk, under drug influence, ignore safety laws, there by killing family members, children end up with out one or both parents, injured require hospital care, Taxes go up to try and support increase cost to the nation.

Two wheel vehicles with out helmets? You need to be dragged to every hospital and see the dead or seriously injured because of no helmet or protected clothing! By the tens of thousands. And who pays?

Driving is not a right, it is a privilege that the state gives, regulates and takes away! When you drive, you expect all other drivers to obey the states driving laws, other wise you could not drive 50 feet because all the other drivers will have ran over you.

You do not have the right to elect to become a liability to the state or the state population! You have the right to do what you like so long as you do not infringe on others right! Everyone gets effected by every ones rotten health, if from nothing else - cost!
And YOU do not have the right to impose higher cost on me! The tax payer.

Everyone YELLS rights, no one takes the responsible;ity to insure
every ones RIGHTS! Too, I am willing to be that YOU have never been in the service or did anything to support or give to America!

Grow up, take responsibility, and try to think of others sometimes and not just yourself!

Answer 5

Smoking is something that affects not only the smoker but those in near radius to the smoker. Because one chooses to smoke regardless of the health warnings, doesn't mean that others who choose not to should be subjected to inhaling second-hand fumes.

The health care system is in really bad shape, and the gluttony of America is apparent in the percentage of overweight people we have in this country (not to mention the gluttony of our president who seeks foriegn oil at the expense of our troops). The government should take steps to force money-hungry capitalist franchises to put consideration into the products they pump to the masses. You really don't want to eat saturated fats, but you just don't know that you don't want to eat them. We've been conditioned to think that it's something that will make a product taste good or is necessary. Not true. They've been in products for years because big business could get away with it, amongst other things to vast to mention.

It strikes me as funny that people only complain about the government when they are affected, but when its someone else they aren't as quick to chime in. Government interference has been in existance since the beginning when this country was founded, it won't stop.

Answer 6

The Government has an ever-increasing interest in keeping its citizens healthy for as long as possible, as the government health care programs (Medicaid, Medicare) grow larger each year. If you think it is bad now, wait until something approximating national health care coverage is enacted - then the Government will be legislating physical activity, under penalty of whipping. Of course, this interest in our health already exists, as a healthy citizenry works harder and provides more in tax revenue. But now the relationship is becoming even more direct, and will continue to do so.

We as a people need to make a choice - do we want to be free to live however we want, and pay the consequences (higher health care costs, shorter life span), or do we want a paternalistic, healthcare-providing government to legislate what we can and can't do, or eat, so that we avoid those things which are "bad" for us but we happen to enjoy doing?

There isn't a right answer to this issue, but there are many wrong ones. Individuals need to examine their core beliefs on these topics, and find out whether they conflict - such as those who believe people should be free to smoke, but who also believe that the government should provide health care to those who lack it. There is a fundamental conflict here - why should citizens be forced to pay for the bad health habits of other citizens? The same goes for those who believe the government should ban certain vices (drugs, etc), while not providing any healthcare services. If the government is going to control our personal health choices, then why shouldn't we expect its interest in us to extend to giving us healthcare?

Before we make any decisions about universal health care and an increasingly paternalistic government, every individual in this nation needs to examine their core beliefs, and figure what it is they want out of life and the government. Perhaps this can be one area in which our laws become logically consistent.

Answer 7

First of all they are not banning fried food, or saturated fat. They are banning TRANS FAT. It is different.
If you are going to make an argument like this, get the facts straight or else you make everyone look bad who agrees with you.
Secondly. You have a good point. When did we decide that it is the government's job to protect us from ourselves?
I've hear it said that it is the government's job to protect those who can not protect themselves. When did grown adults get lumped into the category of those who can not protect themselves? Children, or disabled people, but adults?
Your cigarette dollars do not go toward a better health care system. As far as I know the health care in not yet a government affair. Many want it to be, but as of yet, it is not.
I can not tell you where it ends. We have gotten carried away with the making of laws.
Check out the libertarian party (google it) to join in the fight against this non-sense.

Answer 8

America isn't really a free nation. It used to be when the people cared enough to step up and assert their will. This country is going to keep going down until the people say NO MORE. No more Democrats or Republicans will run our government. I'm a smoker and it's my right. I eat greasy foods and i'm all of 125 lbs and i'm 5'8. I should be able to eat and smoke whenever I so desire. Do it at the same time if I want. Mexicans are coming across the border to work. For our economy but they are the ones with freedom.

Answer 9

The government wants us to be sheep and do exactly as we are told. Ever heard of the new world order? As many of the thing that they can control, they will. They are slowly creeping into our lives and controlling more and more. Each new generation accepts these controls as normal and in the future the government will control everything. Socialism at its best. You are talking about the UK, but it is the same in the US. There will be a revolution in the US in the coming years, but I will not live to see it. I wish I could, it would be an honor to die for freedom.

Answer 10

because it is rapidly turning into a one world government. soon we will be monitered all the time. the reason for the control is because soon we will be in our homes 24/7 due to global warming and the government is going to soley support the ones who go by their set of rules. it may sound like something straight from a science fiction novel but it has been predicted by some of the greatest minds in history. why do you think the government has been pushing so hard for america to lose weight........the food supply is going to get shorter and shorter. as far as cigarettes go you would think with that theory they wouldn't care if we kill ourselves.......the truth is cigarettes are going to be a thing of the past and they are just coming down on smokers because 1 we might as well quit now and 2 to shut up the ones complaining

Answer 11

Somewhere We The People of the United States forgot who was working for who and this governemnt has decided to become our baby sitter or parent or perhaps our meddling Uncle Sam. Sad to think that many citizens of rthis country no longer believe in our civil liberties but that they should legislate there ideals on everyone else.