Government gone awry

We have a new president of the united states. A young, charismatic, handsome, president - who happens to be black. Although, for me personally, the color of his skin is irrelevant - I'm more interested in his values and policies.

Of course, this means the republicans have lost control of the white house. Prior to this they lost control of both the house and the senate.

So, what are they doing about it?

The republicans in Utah are fussing because restaurants, like Chili's, having bottles of alcoholic beverages in view of restaurant patrons, including children - GASP!!!

I'm a conservative - but I'm not sure I want to admit to being a republican anymore. I'm ashamed of my political party. They need to return to republican values of less government. Regulating whether restaurants can have bottles of liquor on display is more government - not less. If you don't like having your children exposed to bottles of liquor then don't eat at those restaurants. It's as simple as that. If enough people agree with you then restaurants will get the hint and hide their bottles of liquor. If you're in a minority too small to make a difference then just deal with it - don't expect the government to step in to save you and your family.

Of course, the democrats aren't doing any better.

With all of their complaining about the war, the economy, health care, etc. They introduced bill H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which was signed into law on August 14, 2008 by President Bush and goes into effect on February 10, 2009. It requires retailers to test for lead content in any product intended for use by children under 12, including toys, clothes and jewelry.

Sounds good -right? Anything we can do to protect our children is a good thing - right?

• The way the law is written, each specific product (with a unique SKU) has to be tested. So if you have 3 different products all out of the same materials & produced the same, you have to pay for testing on all 3 products. For example, if you have a tank top shirt, a short sleeve tee shirt, and a long sleeve tee shirt - all out of the same fabric & materials with the only difference being in the sleeve length, you test each of these products individually, making testing repetitive and expensive.
  

• Small home based businesses have to conform to the law the same as large scale manufacturers. This will effectively put many such businesses out of business.
  

• The same is true for thrift shops, eBay sellers, etc. Many may have to close their doors since they won't be able to sell used childrens clothes and toys without it being properly tested - not to mention the impact this will have on the people of less fortunate circumstances who depend on these stores.
  

• And, what about the rest of us? We will be facing higher prices since the cost of lead testing will have to be passed onto the consumer.
  

• Our stake relief society is currently involved in a service project making baby quilts which are being donated to a local woman's shelter. After February 10th, this type of service project will become a thing of the past.
  

This is a prime example of knee jerk reaction legislation that, on the surface, feels good - but is ill conceived and will end up hurting more people than it helps. One of the co-sponsors of the bill is saying that the bill is being interpreted too strictly - although, that doesn't speak very highly of the people who wrote the bill if it is open to such a wide range of interpretation. This is why we need less government - because most of the time they just screw it up and make things worse than before.

Obama is going to save us from all of this - right? Somehow, I'm not instilled with confidence that things are going to get any better.

Even though I didn't vote for him, I will support Obama - he is, after all, my president. Although, I disagree with him on a number of political issues, I consider him a person of honor and integrity - unlike my feelings towards the previous democrat to occupy the oval office. And, who knows, maybe he does have the chutzpah to actually make a difference. For all our sakes, I certainly hope so.

Plus, since I'm, apparently, one of the very few here in the queerosphere who didn't vote for Obama - that gives me exclusive rights to complain - correct???