Stop the world. I'm leaving.
Putting unrelated riders onto "must-pass" bills; putting their own bottom line or narrow viewpoint ahead of the interest of the nation; what do we pay these bozos for again?
Congress passed a port security bill on Friday. Attached to that bill was a provision outlawing all gambling (other than horse-racing and the lottery) over the internet. I must have missed the port-side terrorist threat that gambling incurs. Anyone care to explain? Heck, I missed the threat entirely. Why does it need to be illegal at all? What makes it different from live gambling (which is regulated by the States)?
Unfortunately for us all, there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Law of Unintended Consequences holds that almost all human actions have at least one unintended consequence. In other words, each cause has more than one effect, including unforeseen effects. Some of the consequences are listed in this blog entry.
That doesn't even include the effect of government meddling needlessly in its citizen's lives once again. We need less government, not more; more autonomy, not less. A great many individuals in this country are too stupid to come in out of the rain, but that does not mean the government needs to ban showers or walking under an open sky. The Constitution was written to establish that we need a government to handle some few matters that the people individually were not capable of, or were unsuited to, and everything else was left to The People. As far as I can tell, every single Founder tried their best to keep the government out of the everyday lives of the people. "As long as they're not hurting anyone else, let them do as they will," they might have said. What the Hell happened?!
--Beav
Congress passed a port security bill on Friday. Attached to that bill was a provision outlawing all gambling (other than horse-racing and the lottery) over the internet. I must have missed the port-side terrorist threat that gambling incurs. Anyone care to explain? Heck, I missed the threat entirely. Why does it need to be illegal at all? What makes it different from live gambling (which is regulated by the States)?
Unfortunately for us all, there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Law of Unintended Consequences holds that almost all human actions have at least one unintended consequence. In other words, each cause has more than one effect, including unforeseen effects. Some of the consequences are listed in this blog entry.
That doesn't even include the effect of government meddling needlessly in its citizen's lives once again. We need less government, not more; more autonomy, not less. A great many individuals in this country are too stupid to come in out of the rain, but that does not mean the government needs to ban showers or walking under an open sky. The Constitution was written to establish that we need a government to handle some few matters that the people individually were not capable of, or were unsuited to, and everything else was left to The People. As far as I can tell, every single Founder tried their best to keep the government out of the everyday lives of the people. "As long as they're not hurting anyone else, let them do as they will," they might have said. What the Hell happened?!
--Beav
posted by Beav @ 6:23 PM
6 Comments:
At 10:10 AM,
MthNrd said…
It is the only way to get things done, unfortunately. Since every bill is a melange of opposing desires (all in the name of compromise and concensus, of course), the intended consequence is that a vote on a bill can be spun both ways by either side of the aisle, which ever way is the most politically profitable.
At 1:39 PM,
Soo Mi said…
After Foley, after this insane port security bill, after all the waste and abuse tacked on to the defense bills (which inflates the overall cost of the war effort, by the way), after the abuse of America's Civil Rights, I say the only way to go is to vote da bums out.
Normally, I vote responsibly, I check the political leanings of as many candidates as I can, and head to the polls with my list of do's and don'ts.
This time, I refuse to vote for any incumbent. If I thought I could go stir up a lovely anti-gov't protest w/o getting Mister canned, you'd better believe I'd be out there with a bullhorn and my cowbell.
There, I feel better. Off the soapbox and time for a nap.
At 12:42 PM,
Bk30 said…
need I remind you of the proabition or the mandatory seat belt laws? proabition got over turned because the people wouldnt' stand for it..but the seat belt law remains..going to jail if you try to commit suicide and fail..Beav this shit ain't new,it's just finally having a negative impact on your life.
But i've been screaming for years and i'm a little horse now.
At 6:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Well said my friend - I think I felt a tingle in my bottom by the end of that one! And Soo Mi - right on, sista! It is high time that those of us who DO pay attention to quality of life start to drag others into the booths and try to make a difference! I expect everyone's participation in some political candidate's camp this year, and definitely in 2008! Bring it on!!!
At 12:51 PM,
Soo Mi said…
Dude, that poker thing I was talking about, I can't find it on the guy's blog. It looks like he's pulled it down after everyone in the online poker world spanked him for being a whiner. Anyway, the closest I could get to it since I dumped my cache is this Link.
At 12:16 AM,
Elitist City-Dweller said…
Whine, whine, whine! It's just one more right that nobody really needs. I always say there's too much pleasure in this world anyway. If they let us have poker and other heathen activities like alcohol and sex, we won't appreciate the few pleasures we have left, like paying taxes and going to work.
I have a post on my site that goes into more detail about my feelings on this subject... ECD's "All Hail the New Carry Nation!".
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