New Jersey--The New Nanny State

New Jersey became the eleventh state to pass a no indoor smoking law that bans smoking in bars and restaurants:

Gov. Richard J. Codey said he will sign the bill into law. It would make New Jersey the 11th state with such a ban, joining Delaware and New York, among others.

"This is the day New Jersey takes on and defeats Joe Camel. It's about time," Assemblyman William E. Baroni Jr., R-Mercer and Middlesex counties, said during a spirited debate.

That has got to be the stupidest line muttered by any politician yesterday, and that's truly saying something since the Senate Judiciary Committee started "grilling" Samuel Alito yesterday and those idiots usually can't be upstaged for stupidity.

The Assembly voted 64-12, with two abstentions, in favor of the bill. The state Senate passed the measure 29-7 on Dec. 15.

The vote came on the final day of the two-year legislative session as both chambers considered nearly 200 bills.

Really principled men and women you'd think, right? Wrong, the law doesn't effect the casinos in Atlantic City. These men of principle didn't have enough of it to go against that behemoth and the gamblers who would vote them out in a second.

I'm sick of the government over stepping their bounds with regard to this issue. A free market should decide if certain bars and restaurants allow smoking or not. If a bar owner wishes to have a smoke-free establishment, let him and he will not attract the smoking crowd. If a restaurant owner wishes to allow smoking, than non-smokers can choose whether or not they want to eat there. Simple, right? Not for New Jersey's pussy politicians.

New Jersey, the latest state to trample the rights of its citizens.

Listen, I have no problem with smoke-free buildings, I like to go to dinner with my wife and kids at least weekly and I don't want them breathing in others smoke. That said, leave it up to the damn business owners to decide what is best for their bottom line.

Secondly, the Garden State put all executions on hold. Woosies!

Those who support the evisceration of individual constitutional rights can be found here and here. Supporters of the the Constitution can be read here, here and here.