Rise of the Nanny State: Is There a Political Answer to Every Problem?

Is there a political answer to every problem? Most of my colleagues feel this is the case. I disagree.

In the past day, there was a spate of news articles about California’s trans-fat ban due to go into effect on New Year’s Day. I voted against this new law.

California has the 4th-highest unemployment rate, a $21 billion budget deficit, and a severe water shortage, so, what do lawmakers do?  Pass a law that will fine restaurants $1,000 for using margarine in their foods.

One of the articles said:

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, criticized the new law as an example of nanny government with little beneficial impact.
“Not every human problem deserves a political solution,” he said. “That’s the fallacy my colleagues engage in.”

I’ve been criticized for voting against all sorts of nanny state bills that expand the police power of government in the name of making us safe from ourselves. I’ve often argued that we might as well pass a blanket bill outlawing stupidity and rudeness in California.

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Tags: Barbara Boxer, Big Government, california government, Forbes, Forbes Magazine
Posted Dec 31st 2009 at 10:31 am in Culture, Politics, State Politics | 53834109 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/cdevore/2009/12/31/rise-of-the-nanny-state-is-there-a-political-answer-to-every-problem/Rise+of+the+Nanny+State%3A+Is+There+a+Political+Answer+to+Every+Problem%3F2009-12-31+18%3A31%3A29Chuck+DeVore

California’s Regulatory Fantasyland: Brass and Lead Edition

Last night was one of those nights when I was mad as hell at the California State government and their foolish, micro-managing, Big-Nanny ways.  (Caution, dear reader, such rage at the machine has been known to cause the temporary insanity of running for public office.)

The cause of my extended rant?  AB 1953, a law passed in 2006 that goes into effect on January 1, 2010, the purpose of which was to define lead-free plumbing from 4% in fixtures down to the European Union standard of 0.25%.  Not that the science supported this change.  Once lead was removed as a gasoline additive, taken out of paints, and removed from plumbing (the Latin word for plumbing is where we get the chemical symbol for lead: Pb), human lead exposure dropped significantly.  Having a small percentage of lead bound up in a brass alloy plumbing fixture isn’t going to add a statistically meaningful amount of lead exposure to anyone.

Today’s story began when my family bought a 4-bedroom house in Irvine in 1998.  The house, built in 1979, had the original chrome-plated sink fixtures when we moved in.  As soon as I could afford it, I installed solid brass bathroom fixtures.

Well, our master bathroom faucet sprung a very slow leak on the cold water handle a few months back.  Having a few spare hours, I found the leak on the valve, took it apart, and trekked down to Lowe’s.

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Tags: brass alloy plumbing, brass fixtures, brushed nickel fixtures, California legislature, California regulations
Posted Dec 1st 2009 at 1:19 pm in Environment, News, Politics, State Politics | 3884255 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/cdevore/2009/12/01/californias-regulatory-fantasyland-brass-and-lead-edition/California%27s+Regulatory+Fantasyland%3A+Brass+and+Lead+Edition2009-12-01+20%3A19%3A01Chuck+DeVore