Walker's War on Smokers? Here comes the Big Government Nanny State Republicans.

Remember when Republicans and conservative radio talk hosts blasted Democrats for "nanny state" public smoking bans that would wipe out local bar owners in the state?

Shouts of big government and the loss of personal freedom rang out over the land.

What will they say now, after the Walker Authority made the following proposal?

How the times have changed...

Wisconsin Reporter: The governor recommends assessing state employees who smoke, $50 per month, hoping  they will be “encouraged to avail themselves of smoking cessation and other services designed to help them kick the habit.” The idea is clear: Smokers have more health-related problems, costing taxpayers more money.

And what of our freedom and liberty? Are nanny state Republicans suddenly admitting that smoking is a health risk, and another reason health care costs are skyrocketing? Big switch.

Yes.

“(B)ecause health care costs of smokers and other people who use tobacco are estimated to be 30 to 35 percent higher than nonsmokers, the Governor recommends that a tobacco user charge be included for state employee health plans beginning in calendar year 2014,” Walker’s budget states.

But I thought Republicans were against “sin taxes.” And would “the state of Wisconsin have to administer screenings to determine whether employees would have to fork over the $50 a month smoker’s fee. Would such testing offset revenue from the fee? “

Republicans have never been about small government, they've been about small liberal Democratic government. Republicans like their authoritarian big government model, where our leaders call all the shots, and why they never see the hypocrisy in their actions. 

Collapse of the Restaurant and Tavern Business Didn’t happen with nanny state Smoke Free Law that saved lives!!! Conservatives STUMPED.

So the sky didn’t fall when our state wide government intrusive smoking ban kicked in. Just another issue conservatives and smoking ban opponents were 100 percent wrong on. Now, let’s put them in charge of the economy.

WSJ: Putting out cigarettes in Wisconsin bars and restaurants did not have a detrimental effect on the hospitality industry, according to … the Carbone Cancer Center at UW-Madison … looked at five Wisconsin cities, including Madison, where smoking bans went into effect before the statewide ban took hold last summer.

Results showed bars and restaurants in the smoke-free cities continued to do well under no-smoking ordinances, and the number of class B alcohol licenses increased after the ordinances took effect.

Despite the significant economic recession of 2008, the study found the hospitality industry to be the most economically successful industry in the smoke-free cities, the news release said. 

During our gubernatorial campaign, one Republican candidate promised to come to our rescue:

WSJ: Mark Neumann, a Republican candidate for governor, said Friday that if elected, he would repeal the state's nascent smoking ban … he feels the ban - less than a week old - is a case of government overstepping its authority. People can decide whether they want to frequent places that allow smoking, he said

Which brought out the crazies and prompted this response from me:

Ryan Evans, who heads up the pro-cancer death group called Ban the Ban, “questioned how well the poll gauged sentiment in rural Wisconsin and whether the sample was big enough to project the findings onto the state as a whole”… blah, blah, blah. Evans solution; put the issue up to voters through a referendum. Another words, they want to buy a no vote. 

State Sen. Glenn Grothman on Smoking Ban: "This isn't much of a Public Health Problem."

2009 is looking to be a really bad year for Republicans. They continue to reveal to the public their "down the rabbit hole" ideas, scaring almost everyone they reach out too.

Even though the state of Virginia, the home state of Marlboro and the world’s largest cigarette factory has banned most smoking in restaurants and bars, Republican Party members in Wisconsin apparently haven't been paying attention to the last 50 years of medical warnings about the dangers and costs of smoking. Take Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman's comments recently on Upfront with Mike Gousha (goo-Shay).

Democratic Rep. Jon Richards sanely brought up a few scientific facts and researched social costs relating to the harmful effects of smoking. Of course, Sen. Glenn Grothman would have none of it. Here are some Glenn gems:

"This isn't much of a public health problem, this is just a convenience problem...A lot of people out there don't smoke and they say "if I don't smoke, I don't want the guy next to me to smoke either."

Right, that's what people are thinking. Oh, but it gets worse. We'll lose our "freedom"... to add to the rising cost of health care.

"Again it comes down to a matter of freedom. As people smoke less, the people that don't smoke seem to get madder and madder. Government continues to expand and it will expand to take one more freedom from us this year in the legislature."

Keep in mind, Republicans think health care costs can be brought down if people would just live healthier lifestyles. That wouldn't include inhaling less smoke would it?