What good idea is next? Mandatory broccoli eating?

How far will our liberal legistature go in mandating what's best for you?



Well, it's official. One of the last of the "victories" of our house session debates will be put into action today. It is the mandatory seat belt law. Yes, folks can now be pulled over as a primary offense if a police officer believes that he or she is not wearing their seat belt. This issue was discussed and passed on the last day of session and had a long and spirited debate.

There were several amendments offered....allowing juries to hear whether or not a person was wearing a seatbelt or not - (Rep Kohls 34A Victoria), and Rep. Steve Drazkowski R28B asked for the removal of the word "primary" in his amendment.

There were many interesting arguments to vote NO on this bill during the debate. Bobby Champion (DFL 58B) mentioned the fact that 87% of Minnesota citizen's are already in compliance with wearing a seat belt and that this number is so high due to successful education, not mandatory enforcement. Rep Cy Thao (DFL-65A) spoke to the fact that he himself has been pulled over for no reason, and stated that " racial profiling does happen." Carlos Mariani (DFL 65B) - gave a personal story about his family's experience of being racially profiled. In this instance, his daughter's two friends ended up being jailed and his car was impounded.

Rep Bud Nornes (R-10A Fergus Falls) spoke about law-abiding senior citizens who will now be made to be criminals because of their choice to not wear a seat belt. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety itself reports that during 2006-2008, there were 1,096 vehicle occupants killed on Minnesota roads, and that only 518 of them were unbelted(http://www.dps.state.mn.us/ Minnesota Seat Belt Overview). While this is indeed a large number of lives that could have been saved, the fact remains that there were more occupants who were wearing seat belts killed than there were not wearing seat belts.

Representative Buesgens (R-Dist. 35B) spoke about all the good ideas the legislature could enact, such as mandatory eating of broccoli, mandatory exercise, wearing a helmet inside your car, etc.....there are lots of good ideas. He also stated that we should consider the price of accepting federal money in relation to the cost of forfeiting our freedoms. Other representatives concurred with comments such as "People can care for themselves" and "this bill is crumbling away at people's liberties."

The bipartisan objection to this bill was very compelling. Representatives from both sides of the aisle were very aware of the legalistic approach to this bill. Nonetheless, the current representatives from District 56 and many others voted in favor of this law. The vote was 73-60 and passed.

I do agree with the use of seat belts, and I believe that they do indeed, in most instances, save lives. Nevertheless, I would have voted to retain the liberties of the citizens of Minnesota and I would trust the individuals to decide for themselves how to live their lives.

Looks like it really is "Buckle up or pay".