Bloomberg continues his nanny-state rage...

[Exterous]

I believe a thousand people every day die in this country because of tobacco use.
Is that enough to care about or is it still too little?

Wait - so you are saying that this would prevent every single death by tobacco use? Because thats the only way this response would make sense to a question of 'how many lives would be saved by this'. If not then, well, maybe you should try a little harder at this 'reading' thing.

Because we can't make everyone safe we should give up and not legislate the safety of anything? Nice logic.

As opposed to the logic that jumps to a conclusion I didn't make? Unless you would care to actually back that statement up with proof that somewhere I made a claim we should not legislate the safety of anything. Go on - I'll wait. Its going to be a long wait though as I never made anything close to that claim and only an idiot would think that I did.

 

[zsdersw]

"Sin taxes" are among the most flagrant abuses of government power. Fuck them, and fuck anyone who thinks they should be imposed.

Take your sanctimonious self-righteousness and shove it up your ass.

That includes you, Bloomberg.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

"Sin taxes" are among the most flagrant abuses of government power. Fuck them, and fuck anyone who thinks they should be imposed.

Take your sanctimonious self-righteousness and shove it up your ass.

That includes you, Bloomberg.

Amen.

 

[nixium]

"Sin taxes" are among the most flagrant abuses of government power. Fuck them, and fuck anyone who thinks they should be imposed.

Take your sanctimonious self-righteousness and shove it up your ass.

That includes you, Bloomberg.

Thumbs up, and I'll also include the liberals in this thread who think Government control is fine as long as it's on items that's on their approved list.

 

[zsdersw]

Thumbs up, and I'll also include the liberals in this thread who think Government control is fine as long as it's on items that's on their approved list.

Absolutely.

 

[Genx87]

Go Mr Bloomberg go!
And just ignore those obese, smokers-cough retards complaining like little babies.
They will drop dead soon enough of either a heart attack or cancer.
But probably after first soaking the healthcare system and every tax payer.
Personal responsibility with paying their own way in the healthcare system is no doubt against their beliefs, also.

Oh look at this. Sportage is advocating a more libertarian free market health care system over the socialized everybody pays for my bad decision healthcare we have in our country.

 

[Genx87]

"Try to stay consistent, lefty fruitcakes."
You're calling me a lefty fruitcake? I don't think that's a complimentary term for gay.
You're whacked.
We're not stupid.
And we're not sinking into the ocean. Got any other whacko ideas?
I think you need to see a professional about your mental problems.

So who is a homophobe in this? You see fruitcake and immediately associate it with gay people?

The rest of your maniacal ramblings seems to indicate you are the who needs to visit a professional.

 

[BoberFett]

Silly BoberFett, changing where cigarettes are placed in a store isn't the same as the right to an abortion.

Try to stay consistent, righty fruitcake!

Oh look, the pretend political insider pokes his head out to make a fool of himself yet again. Why should a teenager not be allowed to ingest any substance they want without interference? If they're allowed to make decisions about their body when it comes to having sex and getting abortions, why are they not allowed to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes if they choose? Is it only their body, their choice sometimes? You fools couldn't maintain a consistent stance if you tried.

 

[piasabird]

Outlaw coffee and alcohol they are bad for you.

 

[zsdersw]

I also look forward to them banning eggs, then removing the ban, and then reinstating it. Those things have been on and off the "bad for you" list so many times I've lost count.

 

[cubby1223]

Oh look, the pretend political insider pokes his head out to make a fool of himself yet again. Why should a teenager not be allowed to ingest any substance they want without interference? If they're allowed to make decisions about their body when it comes to having sex and getting abortions, why are they not allowed to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes if they choose? Is it only their body, their choice sometimes? You fools couldn't maintain a consistent stance if you tried.

The world is driven by self-interest, not principles. Principles are the guiding force largely when the individual does not see a clear cut personal advantage in either side of the issue.

If you want to take your attack further might point out that a liberal supporting organization (planned parenthood) benefits from abortions, while in the case of cigarettes evil corporate fat-cats profit off of the poor. I'd go with that angle, it's much more fun to argue those who claim they care so much for the health and safety of complete strangers!


On the side, this is why democrats and progressives are so much better at politics, they are phenomenally good at changing the focus of the debate to their advantage!

 

[1prophet]

I'm outraged, how dare the Mayor try and save some young lives. It's almost like he cares about people.

If he cared about young lives he would go after the greatest brainwashing medium in the USA, hollywood and television along with their celebrities that have been used to and continue to promote smoking as the cool thing to do.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ood-stars-paid-thousands-promote-smoking.html

http://karouselmag.com/2010/05/mad-men-is-glamorizing-cigarette-smoking/

Since tobacco does not smell very good and costs money, tobacco companies had to find a way to create a need for their product. Tobacco advertising has a long and creative history. In the early 1900's, only 1% of the U.S. population smoked. Cancer and heart disease were very rare. By the 1950's almost 50% of the U.S. adult population smoked. The increase in smoking had a lot to do with the different ways tobacco companies found to advertise their products.


Today heart disease and cancer caused by smoking rank as two of the top diseases that cause death in America.
Early in the 1900's, American Tobacco, owned by Washington Duke (a non- smoker), manufactured 90% of the cigarettes in the U.S. American Tobacco advertised their cigarettes by making baseball cards that featured pictures of famous singers and baseball players. A baseball player named Honus Wagner asked that all his cards be destroyed because they promoted smoking and he did not like his face being used to sell tobacco to kids.


By the 1940's and 1950's tobacco companies were using all forms of media–radio, magazines, newspapers, motion pictures and television–to promote smoking. They even advertised in medical journals and ran public ads in which doctors endorsed smoking as "good for your health." In Hollywood, tobacco companies sponsored popular television shows, like "I Love Lucy" and portrayed the main characters to be regular smokers. Today, movie stars smoke in films; musicians smoke in MTV videos and actors smoke on television. We see people smoking in every medium of popular culture, which makes smoking socially acceptable and creates peer pressure to smoke.

 

[Moonbeam]

Oh look, the pretend political insider pokes his head out to make a fool of himself yet again. Why should a teenager not be allowed to ingest any substance they want without interference? If they're allowed to make decisions about their body when it comes to having sex and getting abortions, why are they not allowed to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes if they choose? Is it only their body, their choice sometimes? You fools couldn't maintain a consistent stance if you tried.

Anyone who can equate the right of teenagers to make some but not all decisions about their bodies regarding sex and abortion with the right of corporations to profit from the destruction of the health of young lives through the inevitable obesity produced by the consumption of their products with the billions it will produce in public health costs is probably too much of a fool to realize he is engaged in false equivalencies. The better issue here, in my opinion, is government subsidies to sugar and grains that make shit food cheap and do nothing to reduce the cost of food that is good to eat. Is it Mississippi that holds the record for both the obese and the poor? Corporations and their lust for profit are killing America and because Washington will do nothing everybody else is just flailing about.

You have made the mistake of making libertarianism a religion that is the same as wearing a blindfold. You are mentally obese from the garbage you have consumed and have lost your common sense, railing against the absurdity of the frustrated instead of trying to find and promote real answers.

 

[BoberFett]

Anyone who can equate the right of teenagers to make some but not all decisions about their bodies regarding sex and abortion

What act has a more profound and immediate affect on a teenage body? Sex and abortion of the resulting fetus or smoking a cigarette or taking a sip of alcohol?

with the right of corporations to profit from the destruction of the health of young lives

If corporate profit is the problem, then cigarettes and alcohol produced by non-profit companies would be OK for teenage consumption?

through the inevitable obesity produced by the consumption of their products

I didn't realize alcohol and cigarettes produce obesity. Who exactly are you attacking? Are you demanding that food be put behind the counter where children can't see it?

with the billions it will produce in public health costs

Glad to see that you recognize publicly funding health care is a national problem that we need to solve.

is probably too much of a fool to realize he is engaged in false equivalencies.

You're too much of a fool to realize that 95% of what you say is garbage. The other 5% is garbage covered in shit.

The better issue here, in my opinion, is government subsidies to sugar and grains that make shit food cheap and do nothing to reduce the cost of food that is good to eat.

Good luck with that. Democrats, the people that you believe are compassionate, loving individuals, would scream bloody murder if you talked about discontinuing farm subsidies. But it's nice to see you coming around the intelligent, libertarian point of view.

Is it Mississippi that holds the record for both the obese and the poor?

So what you're saying is that you hate poor people because they're obese? Disgusting, but not surprising.

Corporations and their lust for profit are killing America and because Washington will do nothing everybody else is just flailing about.

Corporations can't make anybody do anything they don't want to. If people want to be poor and fat, they'll do so without any help from corporations.

You have made the mistake of making libertarianism a religion that is the same as wearing a blindfold.

If libertarianism were a religion it would be similar to an eastern religion with philosophies of balance and tolerance. Your religion of government is far more like theocratic Islam, full of hatred and intolerance of anyone who disagrees with you.

You are mentally obese from the garbage you have consumed and have lost your common sense, railing against the absurdity of the frustrated instead of trying to find and promote real answers.

Real answers to life lie within ones self, not in Washington bureaucrats. You wouldn't understand that however. You serve those false D.C. prophets because you have no answers, because you have nothing inside of you but fear. You cling to anything which gives you hope, such as those false prophets in Washington. You're just a pathetic tool of the rich and powerful who want to use your feelings of emptiness and worthlessness to spread their influence. You're a tool of control and corruption and evil and you don't even realize it. Stop spreading their hate.

 

[Moonbeam]

Real answers to life lie within ones self,.....

The color of the purple flowers on my desk against their green stems is intense. The wine from my glass has open a door to beauty. Have a glass when you can.

 

[TechBoyJK]

These bans have very little positive effect and some very negative ones as well. People who smoke go to buy cigarettes regardless if they are displayed. People who don't are unlikely to suddenly buy some since they were just sitting there out in the open.

We have had this ban in Canada for years now and it's pointless. Just extra costs for retailers to comply.

I think that's half the reason.. making it harder to sell them.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Thumbs up, and I'll also include the liberals in this thread who think Government control is fine as long as it's on items that's on their approved list.

Absolutely this. I've always been liberal, but the idea that government's role is determining how much of a specific product in a specific environment you should be allowed, or whether generic colored boxes of one potentially harmful product should be allowed next to generic colored boxes of another potentially harmful product... I mean, Jesus, talk about a complete and utter misunderstanding of every American ideal of freedom and liberty you can think of. It is a shocking abuse of authority and something everyone should oppose. But it's OK as long as it's something liberal ideology has generally been opposed to. Apparently telling people something is bad for them is no longer enough, we have to vilify them through a public shaming of their purchasing decisions. That's not what government is for, dammit.

 

[nehalem256]

Anyone who can equate the right of teenagers to make some but not all decisions about their bodies regarding sex and abortion with the right of corporations to profit from the destruction of the health of young lives through the inevitable obesity produced by the consumption of their products with the billions it will produce in public health costs is probably too much of a fool to realize he is engaged in false equivalencies. The better issue here, in my opinion, is government subsidies to sugar and grains that make shit food cheap and do nothing to reduce the cost of food that is good to eat. Is it Mississippi that holds the record for both the obese and the poor? Corporations and their lust for profit are killing America and because Washington will do nothing everybody else is just flailing about.
.

So are you arguing that teenagers having sex does not produce any costs born by the public?