How do you fight lawbreakers?
The new trend is to punish those who abide by the law.
And - wherever possible - make responsible citizens pay even more.
Have a problem with methheads using over-the-counter flu remedies such as Sudafed to cook up their poison? Simply make those suffering from the flu get a doctor’s prescription,
That’s the solution Senator Dianne Feinstein is proposing. Forget the fact it takes money to see a doctor. Forget the fact you also have to get in to see a doctor. Forget the fact law-abiding adults are quite capable of figuring out when they have the flu. So besides the inconvenience, the plan is to make law-abiding citizens who get the flu spend an extra $100 or more to get a doctor to confirm they have the flu just so they can spend $5 on something that will help them get it under control and keep the bug from spreading.
Aren’t you happy that Congress is working to control health care costs? Just think what would happen if they weren’t.
Have a problem with illegals being hired for jobs? No problem. Force all workers - citizens, legal guest workers, and legal immigrants alike - to use federal ID cards using fingerprints or perhaps retina scans.
Congress is considering that right now as part of a bipartisan immigration bill.
Just like the Jews had the equivalent modern-day of barcodes tattooed on their skin so Nazis could keep tabs on them, our elected leaders are seriously pondering making biometric ID cards mandatory for citizens.
You might think, ‘What’s the big deal?’ as you’ll just need it to get job. Guess again. There is already talk of using such biometric cards to pass through airports, gain admission to hospitals, and to enter public buildings.
The federal government would be given the power to track your every move. George Orwell was so unimaginative. The fact that men and women who swore to uphold the constitution would consider something like this would have the Continental Congress spinning collectively in their graves is scary. Really scary.
Have a problem with criminals and the mentally unbalanced using guns to kill others? Simply require law-abiding citizens that want to exercise their Second Amendment rights to buy mandatory gun liability insurance.
Actually, this has been done before with voting. It was called a poll tax. Mandatory insurance for those citizens who want to exercise their Second Amendment is simply a new version of a poll tax.
The general aim in Congress seems to be to work over the carcass of law-abiding Americans, whether it is to consume more of their income for ever-expanding federal objectives, cannibalize more of their rights and freedoms to address crime and wrong doing on the part of others, or make them pay twice for the sins of others - once in a questionable pre-emptive strike such as with meth and again to pick up the societal tab of meth abuse.
Perhaps if making it even more difficult and expensive for law-abiding folks to fight the flu, own a gun or do a list of other things really did make society safer it might - might - be worth it. But the price we are being asked to pay for marginally effective ways of improving safety is steep in terms of both our freedoms and our pocketbook
Freedom doesn’t come without risk.
Our elected representatives need to remember that.
This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209-249-3519.
