Now that the primaries are over, the real high-gear campaigning can begin. That means politicians making a lot of grand promises about how they're going to send a message to those fat cats in Washington, D.C. They're running to lead, not to feather their own nests, goddamn it!
Ah, but it was always thus. As the world revolves around the sun, so will politicians always congratulate themselves for moves that require no courage. Here are just a few of the things they've done in our corner of the country to try and convince you they've got balls where there's only a greasy black cavity.
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This seem to be a hot subject lately, Im curious to know how many people feel the same way.
Peter - That's certainly true for KCMO, though they still get puss points for the casino exemption. And Kansas dragged their feet not because they were trying to research health risks, but because they were researching whether it would be politically popular in a (selectively) conservative state. I guess what I'm saying is that both bans were motivated more for political reasons than for public health reasons.
% - Most of the people actively fighting the KCMO smoking ban were indeed local business people. They were worried about losing business to surrounding areas; those fears were mostly unfounded, especially now that smoking is basically banned everywhere anyway. The ones who really got hurt were those without the means to provide an outdoor smoking area.
Sorry, but the studies touted by the pro-ban people are just as laden with bullshit as those presented by the anti-ban folks. Both sides were/are full of exaggerations and lies. And there's nothing more bullshit than claiming "public health" when you grant an exemption to the largest drinking establishments in the metro.
(Full disclosure: I personally have enjoyed the smoking bans. I just think the rules should apply equally to all entities.)
"The bar and restaurant lobby is made up mostly of independent businesspeople who don't have the time or money to fight it."
Actually, it's a lobby mostly funded by the tobacco industry. For years they disseminated bogus research first trying to assert that second hand smoke isn't really dangerous. Once that theory was easily debunked, they tried the populist don't-put-a-poor-business-out-of-business line on for size. The public saw through that bullshit, too.
Good one on the smoking bans. I might exempt KCMO on that one though, since we got to vote on it, and Kansas dragged their feet for years on their ban.
I'd add smoking bans to the list.
They're easy to pass because no politician wants to be known the guy/gal who voted for lung cancer when their running for re-election.
Smokers are somewhere between sex offenders and vandals in the public's view, so there's little resistance there outside of a few intrepid libertarians.
The bar and restaurant lobby is made up mostly of independent businesspeople who don't have the time or money to fight it.
The only real challenge to the ban is the casino lobby...which makes the state of KS and the city of KCMO super pusses because they wrote casino exemptions into the law just so they didn't have to overcome big gaming's deep pockets.
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