[thecavemaster]

How much of hatred for the "government" is simply this little child carnality stamping its foot, sticking up a middle finger, and not clicking the seat belt? Angry at the Surgeon General for saying smoking will kill you? What about long term care for the motorcycle rider without helmet who gets an unnecessary brain injury?

[congressman]

Ya know, I've always had a hard time understanding the government's refusal to just do something right for once... Then I realized it wasn't refusal that caused them to fail daily, its simply, its genetic. Its passed down from one generation of politicians to the next. Because if the government were to solve our problems, it would obviously be put nearly out of business.

Take seatbelts for instance. "We wanna save lives..." Bull! If the government truly cared about your life, they'd mandate a 5 point harness, helmet, and possibly a role cage. Instead what do they do? They increase efficiency and fuel mileage standards at the cost of security.. making cars out of plastics, and foam, because obviously energy prices and climate change take precident over personal safety.

Then cigarettes. "Its dangerous, we wish you would quit.." BULL!!! If they were truly concerned about you smoking, they'd do more than issue a 1/2" by 2" warning in size 6 font on the side of a pack of cigarettes.... and then there's the issue of, do they even want you to quit? and the response is typically, "Well they must! They raised taxes by .50 cents a pack recently..." Sounds credible, until you see the full story. They raised taxes by this or that amount, yes. And then they tie it directly to the SCHIP program's funding. So now it looks even better. But wait!! What does this mean? Oh yes! The government is banking on the a million or so people every year to START smoking, and most are the VERY KIDS they were covering with the SCHIP insurance program!!! So what kinda message is that? "your insurance will come from cigarette tax, so no worries.. just make sure you start smoking though, so you're kids can have the benefit someday soon... and please, read the label we place on the pack for you."

And motorcycles. A coffin on wheels. Yet, we give less training for them than we do much safer cars. We make passengers wear helmets in some states, but not the driver. Some other rules include such smart ones as, you can ride without a helmet after 2 years. Or, the best marker/locator/"HEY I'M RIGHT HERE TO YOUR LEFT" identifier --- Loud Pipes are often illegal.

So give me a break. The government doesn't care about you, or your safety. They care about 5mph bumpers, CAFE standards, and making sure you "don't use this toaster while in the bathtub" (sure you've saw dumb warning labels in the past..) Thats what the government is busy with. Try not to bother them with real ideas that actually work.

[thecavemaster]

Ya know, I've always had a hard time understanding the government's refusal to just do something right for once... Then I realized it wasn't refusal that caused them to fail daily, its simply, its genetic. Its passed down from one generation of politicians to the next. Because if the government were to solve our problems, it would obviously be put nearly out of business.

Take seatbelts for instance. "We wanna save lives..." Bull! If the government truly cared about your life, they'd mandate a 5 point harness, helmet, and possibly a role cage. Instead what do they do? They increase efficiency and fuel mileage standards at the cost of security.. making cars out of plastics, and foam, because obviously energy prices and climate change take precident over personal safety.

Then cigarettes. "Its dangerous, we wish you would quit.." BULL!!! If they were truly concerned about you smoking, they'd do more than issue a 1/2" by 2" warning in size 6 font on the side of a pack of cigarettes.... and then there's the issue of, do they even want you to quit? and the response is typically, "Well they must! They raised taxes by .50 cents a pack recently..." Sounds credible, until you see the full story. They raised taxes by this or that amount, yes. And then they tie it directly to the SCHIP program's funding. So now it looks even better. But wait!! What does this mean? Oh yes! The government is banking on the a million or so people every year to START smoking, and most are the VERY KIDS they were covering with the SCHIP insurance program!!! So what kinda message is that? "your insurance will come from cigarette tax, so no worries.. just make sure you start smoking though, so you're kids can have the benefit someday soon... and please, read the label we place on the pack for you."

And motorcycles. A coffin on wheels. Yet, we give less training for them than we do much safer cars. We make passengers wear helmets in some states, but not the driver. Some other rules include such smart ones as, you can ride without a helmet after 2 years. Or, the best marker/locator/"HEY I'M RIGHT HERE TO YOUR LEFT" identifier --- Loud Pipes are often illegal.

So give me a break. The government doesn't care about you, or your safety. They care about 5mph bumpers, CAFE standards, and making sure you "don't use this toaster while in the bathtub" (sure you've saw dumb warning labels in the past..) Thats what the government is busy with. Try not to bother them with real ideas that actually work.

Loud pipes (disturbance of the peace)... smash/boom (didn't know you were there)... conflicting interests. The "government" is men and women, by the way. It is not a separate thing, it seems to me. FYI: Madison/Jefferson kind of thing: "Are you more afraid of too much power in the hands of the majority, or too much power in the hands of a few?" YES. To me, herein lies the struggle, the balance, the checks... and, in all reality, I am glad we live in a place where we can debate these things.