Is this the Hawkeye State? No, It’s the Nanny State.

Iowa has joined so many other states in telling its citizens they are too stupid to take care of themselves:

Today the Iowa Legislature passed House File 2212, otherwise known as the “Smokefree Air Act.” This bill takes away the rights of business owners to decide what actions can or can not take place in their business. Of course the Iowa Legislature was oblivious to that fact. Now even business owners cannot smoke on their own property. One of the arguments that were used to shove this miscarriage of law down our throats was that it was bad for bar and club employees to be around second hand smoke. My answer to this is that there are other jobs out there, if you don’t want to be around cigarette smoke find another job.

Can anyone explain to me why this is necessary? Isn’t a person smart enough to make a decision for themselves? If you go into a club, and they are smoking, then why can’t you just turn around and walk out? Or not take a job there? Or open your own smoke-free club?

This is supposed to be the land of the free, but it seems to be turning into the land of the swaddled. I don’t need the government to tell me that I should not be around second hand smoke. I can make that decision myself.

In other nanny-state news:

• Peach Pundit talks about Georgia’s fight against obesity with “the SHAPE Act.”
• Secondhand Smoke asks if we are as sick of the nanny state as he is. I know I am.
• An editorial at Courant.com sums up what most of us already think about laws governing a teenager’s behavior: “Parents: Start parenting.“