Once Again, The Left Says You Don’t Own Your Own Body
So much for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Once upon a time, those words had meaning. So long as what you were engaged in did not harm anyone else to a reasonable extent, you were allowed—and perhaps even encouraged—to engage in such behavior.
But over the years, we’ve seen our liberty dissolve thanks to establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle. These so-called “leaders” are so deeply entrenched in suckling on the teat of the American taxpayer—bettering themselves, their families, and their friends along the way—that they care not about the blatant erosion of our liberty over the years. Rather, they simply cater to the special interests that keep them in power until they either lose an election or decide not to seek another term (in both cases most likely landing a cushy lobbying position immediately thereafter.)
Healthcare “Reform”
While, on the surface, the left’s recent support and subsequent passage of what they claim to be healthcare “reform” is commendable, the fact remains that the Affordable Care Act—better known as Obamacare—is political grandstanding at its finest.
From “we have to pass the bill to see what’s in it” to “if you like your plan, you can keep it”, the execution of the law has been dishonest and laughable at best. Despite the fact that lawmakers rushed the passage of the bill, President Barack Obama seems to blatantly disregard the lawmaking process outlined in the Constitution, using his executive authority to illegally augment the disaster of a bill every couple of weeks – something which, under the law that exists in this country, is supposed to be left up to Congress. Seemingly, and probably smartly from a purely political standpoint, the president is trying to kick the realities of the bill down the road, past each encroaching election.
But taking a step back from the reality that the bill is haphazard legislation at best, we can still see that the left is blatantly dishonest in their desire for providing better healthcare in our country. You might ask why, and I’m about to tell you.
We All Know Smoking is Bad
According to lung.org, about 160,000 Americans died from lung cancer in 2012—more than those who died from breast cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer combined. One can only imagine how much treatment costs are for those suffering from such an awful disease. It certainly puts a strain on our healthcare system for a disease that, in most cases, is completely preventable.
For practically as long as human history has been recorded, men and women have smoked substances to relax and fraternize. Smoking is nothing new. Many of the smokers of today, however, get addicted to cigarettes; and their bodies become reliant on nicotine. Quitting becomes difficult.
Seeking a safer alternative that helped smokers get their fixes, a Chinese company created the first electronic cigarette about a decade ago. The device vaporizes flavored liquid containing nicotine. This allows smokers to inhale a vapor charged with their vice.
But Are Electronic Cigarettes Bad?
The verdict remains on whether electronic cigarettes are really what they claim to be: a “safer alternative” to smoking cigarettes. The FDA is debating whether to ban such products from the market altogether.
Common sense teaches us that it’s probably “safer” to inhale a vapor than to inhale incinerated materials that have been scientifically linked to cancer. But the FDA is under the purview of the federal government, a place where common sense does not live. Despite the fact that the FDA has approved all sorts of things that are not healthy, one has to wonder how many people really care what the bureaucracy ends up having to say on the matter.
But even before the FDA weighs in—possibly criminalizing the products—liberals are already making sure that law-abiding Americans aren’t able to pursue happiness. Recent bans of electronic cigarettes have started popping up across the country, perhaps most notably in New York City. Similar bans are moving forward in places like Philadelphia as well.
What This All Means
What do places like Philadelphia and New York City have in common? They are bastions of liberalism. Those in power in those cities do not care about the individual’s right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. How can cigarettes be legal when these lawmakers push forward legislation intended to deter people from seeking a safer alternative to their addiction?
More importantly, how can the left claim that they care about the health of American citizens when they hastily pass a bill that they don’t read (and that was written by healthcare lobbyists)?
Anyone with any semblance of common sense at their disposal would likely agree that despite the lack of research on the relatively new products, electronic cigarettes are a safer alternative to their traditional counterparts (liberals, unfortunately, do not fall into that category). Letting people use the devices, over time, is likely to take at least some sort of strain off of our healthcare system.
But that’s a solution that would help reduce costs and improve services—a concept as foreign to liberals as can be.
Photo credit: planetc1 (Flickr)
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/electronic-cigarettes-great-healthcare-yet-still-bad-left/#xFIp8fLO8VzSqCco.99