Does any one living in MD feel their personal freedoms are limited by the state laws?? (Frederick: public schools, car inspection)

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by Tom Jefferson

WAKE UP!! Liberal politics is KILLING AMERICA. What has happened in (what used to be) our country during the past 6 months is unprecedented in a free society...........21 czars, 12 trillion in debt, government ownership of the banking and auto industries, another stimulus on the horizon, a super majority illegaly grabbed by discounting absentee votes, a one party system that threatens our very existence, global warming hoax to make the ultra liberal rich (Appr 100 million to gore just last year....)EPA reports being buried and noone asks why..acorn assuring liberal rulers for GENERATIONS to come!!!...and now the supreme court is about to lose more credibility by seating the imo unqualified sotomayor........HELLO !....is anyone home?

Wow, I think it's time to take a break from Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, and friends. Those idiots and the right wing Faux News brainwashing channel only serve to make Americans dumber. Global warming is a hoax? Democtratic congressmen were elected illegally? I suppose President "Hussein Osama" (as the wingnuts affectionately refer to him) is a Muslim terrorist also right? Geez, it's no wonder the rethuglican party is on the fringe.

I'm sure that during the "hard times" (i.e. the Bush regime) you were just like the other repubs--a zealot who thought Bush could do no wrong. I guess you forgot that Obama inherited the biggest deficit since WWII from "King Dubya?" Please keep the propogandic ramblings to yourself...

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by ToneGrail

I was going to respond but you beat me to it. It's obvious that these irrational hoplophobes aren't basing their opinions on anything but emotional knee-jerk fear of weapons and not facts. There's no use arguing with them.

Funny you say "irrational," since that's the same word that immediately comes to mind when thinking of gun-loving neocons. Anyway, you do know that many guns used to commit crimes in MD come from other states, mostly conservative states that freely give their residents permission to carry firearms. I think I read an article in the Washington Post a while back about criminals in Maryland buying guns at gun shows in VA which is, not surprisngly, pretty easy.

[clintsullivan]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

You say that you're in favor of requiring parents to protect children by using car seats, but you don't like the MD law. Okay, how would you fix it?

MD law states that all children 7 & younger must be in car seats, but allows exemptions to this if the child is very tall for his/her age (4'9" +) OR is larger than a typical 7 yr old (65 pounds +). You think there is something wrong with this. What do you suggest?

If I can recall correctly, when my kids were of the car seat age 8 to 12 years ago, the requirement was somewhere in the 35# to 45# range. A car seat typically cost about $40 unless you needed the multifunction super snap out with wheels at maybe $60. Why the change? For that matter when I was growing up I don't know that we even had car seats.

I think the car seat manufacturers are getting together with the NASCAR roll cage & harness designers for the new model built for youth and 'teenagers' up to 21, of course there is an exemption if they weigh more than 180# and are 6'2". Think of the lives that will be saved. Prices will start around $2,000 but what does that matter, after all, every life is priceless. Oh and the feds are planning on a requirement for them to be made of bamboo so that they are 'green' too.
To make it easier maybe the government representative could wait at the hospital to take the children to a 'safe' government facility at birth. That would save the government the trouble of trying to manage them within individual homes and cars. Think the candyman in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

(An aside... thinking of green freedom California style; If I change all the light bulbs in my house to low energy fluorescent, how long during the day while I'm at work do I need to leave them on to realize the savings compared to my incandescent light bulbs which I used to leave off?)

The point is not the cut off number. When we agree to give government control of an aspect of living, there is no going back or reduction in that control. The control only increases to the point where individuals are no longer in control of any aspect of their lives (freedom) and do not learn to be responsible for their actions. These paths are well trodden.

I apologize for the length and the vitriole, but I'm still a bit irritable about the 3.6 degree average temperature thing from the G8 summit, and I'm reading The Hiding Place and am at the point where the nazis are occupying Holland.

[Denton56]

I used to live in Maryland and now live in Western Loudoun in Virginia. I would never again live in Maryland, too many taxes, and too many silly rules and laws. It's cheaper, and freer, to live in VA.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by clintsullivan

The point is not the cut off number. When we agree to give government control of an aspect of living, there is no going back or reduction in that control. The control only increases to the point where individuals are no longer in control of any aspect of their lives (freedom) and do not learn to be responsible for their actions. These paths are well trodden.

Nice tap dance. Not to mention flip flop. But I'm not going to let you off that easily.

Let me refresh your memory. You specifically stated in your first post that you ARE in favor of requiring parents to put children in safety seats. Here it is verbatim:

Originally Posted by clintsullivan

Don't get me wrong, I'm in support of requiring parents to protect children by using seat belts & car seats, I just wonder where it stops.

So I'll ask you again. Since you ARE in favor of requiring parents to put children in car seats, how would you "fix" what you perceive to be wrong with MD's law?

[omgwhydothat]

Originally Posted by Tom Jefferson

WAKE UP!! Liberal politics is KILLING AMERICA. What has happened in (what used to be) our country during the past 6 months is unprecedented in a free society...........21 czars, 12 trillion in debt, .............government ownership of the banking and auto industries..............................., another stimulus on the horizon, a super majority illegaly grabbed by discounting absentee votes, a one party system that threatens our very existence, global warming hoax to make the ultra liberal rich (Appr 100 million to gore just last year....)EPA reports being buried and noone asks why..acorn assuring liberal rulers for GENERATIONS to come!!!...and now the supreme court is about to lose more credibility by seating the imo unqualified sotomayor........HELLO !....is anyone home?

It never ceases to amaze me just how unintellagent you wack jobs are. Stop repeateing everything you here on FoxNews and actually form an opinion of your own. I know thats alot to ask Jethro, but try, please. Would you have preferred that the government let GM and the other fall threw the floor? Where would get your precious oversized, American waste of fuel, useless dulley axel truck fixed genius if they did? hmmmmm guess you cant think that far ahead or that deep into things, because your precious FoxNews reporters cant either.

[clintsullivan]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

....So I'll ask you again. Since you ARE in favor of requiring parents to put children in car seats, how would you "fix" what you perceive to be wrong with MD's law?

Fair enough.

If a child is injured in an accident and the gov't proves that the child's injuries occurred as a result of willfull negligence of proper restraint, the parent or guardian may be charged. Proper restraint means: birth up to 20#s & <1 year old= rear facing child seat , 20# to 40# front facing seat, 40# to 16 years of age = safety belt.
(I don't agree with laws requiring adults to wear safety belts)

I think this would be more simple to understand and there is no enforcement ability for the gov't unless there is harm. It puts the requirement of proof on the gov't. This is the way I think the cell phone/distracted driving laws should work too.
I am not flip flopping: I think the government should require basic protections for the safety of children, but there is a point where the requirements become burdensome and unreasonable.

And, again, I didn't intend to make this a one issue thread. The general notion was in response to loss or perceived loss of personal freedoms. This was just one example of the type of restriction which at first glance seems reasonable and is not worth worrying about in the larger scope of life, but it's the compounding of regulation upon regulation that limits personal freedom and makes lawbreakers out of us all.

[isis297]

Originally Posted by dkf747

As noted by others, that is in PG County. They can issue a ticket even if it's in your driveway, and even if the driveway goes into your backyard behind your house.

Is that only if the car is unlocked though? Will you still get a ticket if the car is running, but locked?

[isis297]

I came to this thread because my family is considering moving back to MD. I wasn't expecting it to turn into a completely political thread but since some of you are looking for someone who has an opinion of their own here's mine...regardless of the mess Obama inherited, I do not believe he is going about fixing it the right way. Decrease taxes so people spend more! I do not appreciate the things promised during the election that he has since done the complete opposite on...earmarks, not appointing lobbyists, putting people into office who are not even responsible enough to pay their own income taxes, etc. I do not appreciate him agreeing to a treaty saying we will decrease our nuclear forces by 1/3. Who gave him that right? I thought that was only allowed with a 2/3rds vote! Promising to give the public 5 days to read through potential bills only the stimulus was rushed through in 2 and don't even get me started on the cap he just pushed through while much of the public was distracted mourning MJ. He isn't the only person who died in the past two weeks but you would sure think he was with the coverage he is getting. Now, energy bills can be expected to go up about $100 more a month though hopefully the law put in place on BG&E will stick and they will still be held to the 12 years before another increase. :|

Before anyone feels the need to say it, I rarely visit Fox News much less CNN who during the election was so far up Obama's butt it wasn't funny. These are my opinions. While we may not have been in the best place these past 8 years (and let me just add our downfall began with Pelosi in my opinion), I haven't been as afraid for our future as I am now. But let's just keep telling other countries how pathetic we are next to them...ridiculous.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by isis297

Is that only if the car is unlocked though? Will you still get a ticket if the car is running, but locked?

Yes, although some have been thrown out at the District Court level.