I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men’s rights. – Abraham Lincoln

It is not the responsibility of the government or the legal system to protect a citizen from himself. – Justice Casey Percell

No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him. - Thomas Jefferson

Nanny Government

Bob Barr on Nanny Government

The role of the government is to defend individual rights and aid those who have had their rights infringed upon by others, including the government itself. If we are not harming others, then the government should not be involved in regulating how we lead our lives.

The United States is not the "Fatherland" and we are not its children. Below are a very limited number of examples of Nanny Governments dictating how we should live our lives and infringing upon personal liberty; individuals should be able to choose their own paths and assume responsibility for those decisions.

Drew Carey Commentary on Nanny Government 

Smoking

California passed legislation banning smoking on state beaches; in this circumstance, no harm would be done to others yet the government felt compelled to dictate how citizens should live their lives.

The smoking policy of private establishments would be set by the bar or restaurant owner. To quote Mary Ruwart, "Customers would patronize the establishments that had the policy they preferred, much as they do today. For example, I avoid places that are smoke-filled, and opt for restaurants that are smoke-free or have separate accommodations for smokers and non-smokers. As a customer, I have no right to dictate smoking policy any more than I have a right to dictate the color schemes for clothing manufacturers. However, I let both know my preferences by voting with my dollars to do business with them or their competitors." 

Vehicle Safety / Helmet Laws

In North Carolina, motorcycle riders are forced to use helmets that can get quite hot and uncomfortable, provide a false sense of security, and limit visibility - causing a safety hazard in itself. This represents an unjustified expense for many riders who have good helmets that are not 'certified.' Yet when riders willingly use full-face helmets, they may be arrested for violating concealed identity laws and may be imprisoned for a year. The choice of wearing a helmet and which helmet should be an individual's choice - not a decree made by well-intentioned but misguided politicians who feel they better know how we should live our lives.

Americans should be responsible for making the decisions regarding the well-being of their children and themselves. Advocacy groups lobbied to force us to refrain from using cell phones while driving and to use seat belts, airbags, and child car seats in order to protect us from "unreasonable risks of injuries and death." Rather than imposing their will upon others through the force of law, these groups should focus on awareness campaigns and allow adults to make informed decisions.  This worked well prior to the creation of the US Product Safety Commission (in 1972) and the US Department of Transportation (in 1966).

In New York, they also pushed to ban cell phone use in moving automobiles as well as cell phone possession at schools.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, an open-container ordinance was passed that banned all open containers in vehicles -- not just containers of alcohol. That means an open can of soda or even an open bag of chips in the car was made illegal.

In California, legislation has been proposed that would require chain restaurants to post nutrition and calorie information about each meal in plan view of customers.

The Los Angeles City Council barred fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles; the goal is to help overweight children in the poor neighborhoods lose weight by forcing families to go to healthier restaurants.

Legislation has been passed that forbids school cafeterias from cooking with trans fats.

In Salt Lake City, legislation prohibited a full pitcher of beer on your restaurant table if you are the only one sitting there.

Retirement Savings

The government forces most citizens to participate in the Social Security program where it takes about 15% of your earnings and places it in a trust fund that frequently gets raided to effectively buy votes. The Social Security program is anything but secure.

This issue is covered in greater detail on this site, but to summarize my stance... We must live up to our obligations to those who have contributed to the program, but Americans should be free to manage their own retirement planning and achieve a much higher return with a greater likelihood there will be funds available upon retirement.

Parental Rights

California’s “Nanny Government” also wants to mandate HPV, a sexually transmitted disease, vaccinations for all sixth grade girls. This is another example of the State stepping in to raise our children without consulting parents or considering long-term costs.

Also in California, Sally Lieber introduced her anti-spanking bill which would have made the spanking of a child by a parent or guardian a criminal offense. Her plan failed, however, Ms. Lieber returned with another version of the anti-spanking bill and wishes to make a crime out of a time honored discipline method calling for the arrest of parents who use a "switch" and causes the child "unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering."

Legislation criminalizing smoking in cars with minors is being discussed nation-wide.

Not too long ago, a 13 year-old boy at a baseball park beat a younger child to death with a baseball bat. The mother of the deceased lobbied to ban anyone under the age of 18 from buying a baseball bat. Of course, she meant well but her efforts were misguided.

These examples remind me of an oberservation recently shared with me regarding those who tend to promote a Nanny Government:

Nanny Governments  are usually promoted by parents seeking to shift to others the responsibility for raising their children. These are parents that lobby to put warnings on, or even ban, certain music instead of sitting down with their children and explaining what is wrong or right about their music choices. These are the same parents that crusade to have indecency laws apply to privately-funded cable television broadcasts instead of sitting down with their children and explaining the evils that may be found on television. These parents strive to ban books like Harry Potter from schools because it "demonstrates witchcraft as an acceptable religion" instead of sitting down with their children to explain why that contradicts their religion and they shouldn't read it. These are same parents that like to speak out against behavior they find indecent to their standards while failing to realize that what is decent is generally subjective. These are the parents that like to impose their definition of decency on others in order to "protect the children" while they often ignore their own children.

Parents should be accountable for raising their own children and allow others to do the same.

Recreation

The state of New York is considering legislation that would ban the use of iPods, Blackberries, video games and other electronic gadgets while crossing the street. The goal is to minimize the chances of someone getting distracted while crossing a busy intersection and hurting his or herself.

On December 19, 1988, all lawn darts were banned from sale in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Apparently they were too dangerous for American citizens.

There have been numerous attempts to ban so-called "violent" video games. Supporters of such a ban insist the government has a duty to help parents shield children from violence and sexuality. "Don't let them become the monsters that we see in these violent games," Democratic Rep. Monique Davis pleased. So to keep children from becoming "monsters", the government is threatening to fine retail employees $1,000. As an alternative, if a kid buys a game that a parent doesn't approve of, let the parent take it away from him or her. Let's put the burden of raising children correctly on those that brought them into the world and not a government bureaucracy or a retail clerk.

Former Sen. Bill Frist led the passing of legislation prohibiting Internet-based gambling on poker. While we all may not agree with gambling as a recreational activity, it is not the role of the government to tell an individual what he or she can do with their hard-earned money.

Environmental Protection

Legislation targeting light bulbs also has the noble goal of reducing energy consumption. However, they totally ignore the fact that harmful levels of mercury from fluorescent bulbs can add up in landfills, contaminating the soil and making their way into the food supply. In addition, people, people with autism, ADD/ADHD, migranes, seizures, and various mental illnesses often cannot tolerate fluorescent lights. Until LED or other lights become readily available, incandescent bulbs MUST remain available. 

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District intends to ban the use of wood-burning fireplaces / woodstoves in the estimated 1.7 million homes within its jurisdiction.  This plan is also being discussed elsewhere. To enforce this bad law would require a large number of 'smoke police', clog the courtrooms, pull law enforcement officers away from more important duties, increase the cost of other heating fuels as demand increases, cause health problems as a result of exposure to cold temperatures by those who cannot afford more expensive heating options, and result in entitlement programs to subsidize heating for the poor and elderly. 

Legislators proposed a bill that would force Californians to pay as much as $2,500 extra to buy muscle cars, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. They want to use that money to cut the prices of new hybrids and other cars that go farther on a gallon of fuel and pump fewer carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The purpose of taxes is to fund essential services of government; not to promote social agendas and redistribute wealth. This plan also discriminates against larger families who are required to have their young children strapped into car seats. Many families would be required to use two cars instead of their SUV or minivan; that is hardly cost-effective for the family or good for the environment.

A San Francisco ordinance to reduce littering requires the city’s larger grocery stores to use recyclable bags at an added cost of up to 10 cents per bag. At the state level, a new will require retailers to provide plastic bag recycling containers, print a recycling message on bags, and offer reusable bags for sale. As an interesting footnote, plastic grocery bags introduced not too many years ago as a way of appeasing the environmental lobbyists worried about our disappearing forests. Such government edicts are going to drive up grocery store compliance costs (and consumer prices) but in the long run are no better than free market solutions.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is preparing to adopt a regulation that would require owners to re-equip their off-road diesel machines with new engines (manufactured in 2006 and later) and/or install particulate matter control equipment starting in 2009. Since replacing older engines with new model engines is not an available option for most existing equipment, small businesses will be required to purchase new equipment roughly four times the cost of re-powering their existing fleets. According to the proposed regulations, small businesses may be required in 2020 to replace all this newly purchased equipment with vehicles powered by Tier 4 engines, which haven’t even been invented yet. This may easily force many small businesses out of business and is the type of legislation we must be wary of. 

Personal Defense

Across the nation, there have been any number of laws proposed to restrict your Second Amendment rights. This is the section of the Bill of Rights that ensures you are able to defend yourself and your family from others.  To ensure you don't hurt yourself, Nanny Government proposes mandates that will keep your firearms locked away or equipped with locks that make in inaccessible in a timely fashion. The problem with this is that it also makes the defensive weapons unavailable when an intruder is in your home and you need to access them. Nanny Government attempts at crime control have resulted in misguided gun control laws that endanger Americans.