Spring Break
Column: Government creates more problems
Matt Zimmerman
Issue date: 2/24/09 Section: Opinions
If history teaches us anything, the proverbial slippery slope, although not a logically pure idea, is a reality. People get swept away by any number of factors that do not make a whole lot of sense.
There is a certain category of laws Jesse Ventura fondly refers to as "stupid laws" - laws created simply to keep stupid people from doing stupid things. Now and again you will hear about one, such as a Massachusetts proposal to ban metal hooks used to hold things at places like Radio Shack. A California lawmaker wanted to ban holding pets while driving. Last year, an Illinois lawmaker proposed banning aluminum baseball bats from youth games. Spanking bans are proposed now and again. Now, we have governments telling us what we can eat: California banned trans-fats in restaurants.
Sure, one could make a case for any of these laws. However, there is something larger at play with the proliferation of laws designed to take responsibility away from people.
When we make these laws, it takes a bit of the already light burden of common sense away from people and makes them a little more dependent on the government.
It goes from silly to something of serious concern when a key piece of Barack Obama's economic agenda includes a credit card and mortgage rating systems, which takes basic economic responsibility away from people.
Will this encourage people to be more financially responsible?
It goes from silly to scary when people like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley promise cameras on every street corner within eight years; when there is federal legislation pending that would force internet service providers to store information about everyone's Internet activity for two years to fight child pornography.
It's scary when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has advocated restricting speech on the Internet since his time in the Clinton administration; when Rep. Henry Waxman said last week that the federal government should stick its hands into political discourse on the Internet, make sure it's "fair."
To this day, Obama's campaign site says that he wants to clarify the "public interest obligations of broadcasters." We have a president who never paid lip service to the Second Amendment until he ran for office.
His ex-appointee Tom Daschle's health care plan was to ration care to the elderly. We'll put the Patriot Act to shame.
In the face of government-created problems and the housing crash-created recession, we get the scare tactics Obama derided during his campaign in a frantic effort to pass a bill the Congressional Budget Office says will do more harm than doing nothing at all.
Next, we will be scared into accepting massive, job-killing tax hikes on small businesses and corporations so that we can pay for spending that we didn't need in the first place.
Government creates problems. We ask the government for solutions. They inevitably make it worse and take away our rights in the bargain. The history of humanity repeats itself.
Matt Zimmerman is a senior political science major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
There is a certain category of laws Jesse Ventura fondly refers to as "stupid laws" - laws created simply to keep stupid people from doing stupid things. Now and again you will hear about one, such as a Massachusetts proposal to ban metal hooks used to hold things at places like Radio Shack. A California lawmaker wanted to ban holding pets while driving. Last year, an Illinois lawmaker proposed banning aluminum baseball bats from youth games. Spanking bans are proposed now and again. Now, we have governments telling us what we can eat: California banned trans-fats in restaurants.
Sure, one could make a case for any of these laws. However, there is something larger at play with the proliferation of laws designed to take responsibility away from people.
When we make these laws, it takes a bit of the already light burden of common sense away from people and makes them a little more dependent on the government.
It goes from silly to something of serious concern when a key piece of Barack Obama's economic agenda includes a credit card and mortgage rating systems, which takes basic economic responsibility away from people.
Will this encourage people to be more financially responsible?
It goes from silly to scary when people like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley promise cameras on every street corner within eight years; when there is federal legislation pending that would force internet service providers to store information about everyone's Internet activity for two years to fight child pornography.
It's scary when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has advocated restricting speech on the Internet since his time in the Clinton administration; when Rep. Henry Waxman said last week that the federal government should stick its hands into political discourse on the Internet, make sure it's "fair."
To this day, Obama's campaign site says that he wants to clarify the "public interest obligations of broadcasters." We have a president who never paid lip service to the Second Amendment until he ran for office.
His ex-appointee Tom Daschle's health care plan was to ration care to the elderly. We'll put the Patriot Act to shame.
In the face of government-created problems and the housing crash-created recession, we get the scare tactics Obama derided during his campaign in a frantic effort to pass a bill the Congressional Budget Office says will do more harm than doing nothing at all.
Next, we will be scared into accepting massive, job-killing tax hikes on small businesses and corporations so that we can pay for spending that we didn't need in the first place.
Government creates problems. We ask the government for solutions. They inevitably make it worse and take away our rights in the bargain. The history of humanity repeats itself.
Matt Zimmerman is a senior political science major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
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