Posted on 04/27/2006 4:07:42 AM PDT by SheLion
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - House members narrowly defeated a bill Wednesday that would ban smoking in restaurants.
After nearly two hours of debate, the House voted 55-52 to send the proposal back to committee, killing it. The close vote on the floor was surprising for a bill that many thought would never make it out of subcommittee.
The measure would have prohibited smoking in restaurants, bars, lounges and recreational facilities but had exceptions for cigar bars and private clubs, such as the American Legion.
"There's no such thing as safe cigarette smoke," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia. He said he introduced the bill last year after learning of a report that linked secondhand cigarette smoke to breast cancer.
"Anyone who says secondhand smoke doesn't kill people is burying one's head in the sand," he said.
He pointed to last month's death of Dana Reeve, the singer-actress who married "Superman" star Christopher Reeve. Dana Reeve, a nonsmoker, died of lung cancer.
But critics said government should not dictate whether businesses go smoke-free. Small businesses in South Carolina are regulated too much already, said Rep. Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, whose family owns a clothing store.
"I don't think government should say what we can and can't do," said Rep. Bob Leach, R-Greenville. "Tomorrow we're going to come in here and Rutherford will have an amendment that women can't wear perfume because it's offensive to somebody."
Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, said that while smoking offends him and he does not go to restaurants that allow it, he could not support the bill because it is a question of personal responsibility.
But the employees of businesses that allow smoking can't simply go elsewhere. Waiters and bartenders should be protected from secondhand smoke just like employees of state agencies, Rutherford said.
Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, called it a "slippery slope to try to protect everyone from themselves." He said arguments for barring smoking could be used to ban fattening food in restaurants.
That analogy doesn't work because there's no such thing as secondhand eating, said Rep. Joseph Neal, D-Hopkins.
The debate has become common nationwide.
Seventeen states now have no-smoking laws in effect, as do more than 450 towns, cities and counties elsewhere. The latest state to join the trend was New Jersey, with a new law that took effect April 15, according to the California-based American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.
I wish all lawmakers across the board would just stay out of the face of the private business owner!
As for this second hand smoke BS:
The World Health Organization actually did a study on secondhand smoke which showed that it doesn't even make people sick, much less kill them. Now, it makes people uncomfortable. People don't like it. But it doesn't kill. It doesn't.
Oak Ridge Labs, TN & SECOND HAND SMOKE
Statistics and Data Sciences Group Projects
I think any anti who tries to dismiss the findings of the U.S. Department of Energy labs at Oak Ridge, should be confronted with the question: "Are you saying that DOE researchers committed scientific fraud and that their findings on ETS exposure are untrue?" But where does this Taliban-like anti-smoking campaign come from? It can't really be this stuff about second-hand smoke. The famous 1992 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study showing a causal relationship between second-hand smoke and cancer was so roundly debunked as junk science (even by other federal agencies) it was finally declared "null and void" by a federal judge. Sure, second-hand smoke can be annoying, and it can't be healthy, but if you relegate smokers to their own enclosed space _ say a bar or a separate part of a restaurant where people, including staff, only go of their own free will _ who can object?
DON'T LET THE HEADLINES FOOL YOU
Court throws out challenge to EPA findings on secondhand smoke - (December 2002) - The ruling was based on the highly technical grounds that since the EPA didn't actually enact any new regulations (it merely declared ETS to be a carcinogen without actually adopting any new rules), the court had no jurisdiction to rule in the matter. This court ruling on the EPA report is NOT a stamp of approval for that report. Judge Osteen's criticisms of the EPA report are still completely valid and is accompanied by other experts.
The Illinois Clean Air Act, banning smoking in public and government buildings and on public transportation has been in effect for over 15 years. This is not an issue about smoking in public buildings....it is about removing the rights of private businesses...restaurants and bars and smoking outdoors. Why all the BS? Just drop it! Most people don't even understand what these intrusive bans are about and it is being implied that everyone smokes everywhere. That hasn't been the case for a long, long time. Get real!!!
California EPA Air Resources. Don't both these test results indicate that purported secondhand smoke "hazards" have been hyped, exaggerated, and misconstrued in an effort to bring about unnecessary and overly restrictive violations of property rights?
Ruling on secondhand smoke spurs local groups to action.
Ventilation Myth. You may be interested in recent scientific health department test results which prove the BMJ story incorrect.
Good news and bad news. It all depends on what state we are lucky or unlucky to live in.
Wow! Where'd she get that much "second hand smoke"?
My Aunt died of lung cancer. She didn't smoke, nobody smoked in her home, and she was a stay-at-home mom who rarely went out anywhere. Being that tobacco smoke seems to be "the only thing that causes lung cancer", why did my aunt die of it?
What a bunch of crap.
FMCDH(BITS)
My Aunt died of lung cancer. She didn't smoke, nobody smoked in her home, and she was a stay-at-home mom who rarely went out anywhere. Being that tobacco smoke seems to be "the only thing that causes lung cancer", why did my aunt die of it?
What a bunch of crap.
It really is a load, isn't it?! The lies and spin that are spewed today from groups that hate smoking. They will do or say just about anything to make smokers lives more miserable.
Radon causes lung cancer too. Note that in my area, it's the Republicans who are for the smoking bans and the Democrats against them.
Of course the real debate concerns the absolute hypocrisy of governments accepting tobacco tax dollars and government extracted, imposed, muscled, legal, extorted dollars in the tobacco settlement vis-a-vis health care, BS, but the complete unwillingness to make the practice of smoking illegal, if it is so bad for you.
They have gone too far, and to see billions squandered by state and local governments on anti-smoking programs, just adds to the stupidity of it all. Sort of like listening to the incessant du talking points "Bush Lied", illegal war, WMD's Oil for blood, it's all about oil, Cheney, Bush, blah blah blah, ad puking nauseam after awhile you just want to say...
I keep seeing this ludicrous statement from the Church of Healthism fruitcakes. News must be slow, because apparently none of them have heard of the Emancipation Proclamation yet.
One bar called "That Place", has expanded its hours and opens now at 5:30 or 6 am to serve breakfast. They put out a cheap sign stating smokers welcome for breakfast.
The place is packed, all kinds of cars from caddy's to paint wagons.
Given the option the market can take care of itself and address the health concerns of everyone......all it needs is the room to work.
I'm sure the smoking nazis/nannies are pulling out their collective hair over this one.
Maybe we could send your info to all those lawmakers who seem hellbent on passing these bans? Especially this twit who is trying to tie second-hand smoke to Dana Reeve's death. :)
This smoking business is really way over the top! The government used to want to let the FDA regulate cigarettes. The FDA said if they took over tobacco, they would have to ban it, because they could never deem smoking "safe."
The MSA created gluttons out of each state. All those billions of tax dollars from smokers made them nuts and the lawmakers couldn't spend that money fast enough!
Click on this link and look around as to what smokers contribute to each state's economy.
The states scream they want smoke free, yet they can't balance a state budget without cigarette tax dollars. They talk out of both sides of their mouths!
South carolina a state that tobacco meant so much to at one time . I live in maryland and raised tobacco as a kid, . It amazes me how states who's dependence on tobacco as a crop are so anxious to screw over tobacco companies and smokers.
hehe!
And to think most of these non smoking employees worked for the businesses for years, around other employees who smoke. Now, with the anti-smoking movement, they are the first to start screaming. Wonder how they put up with all that second hand smoke in the years gone by? heh!
Thank you SheLion. The bottom line is gooberment intrusion into yet another part of our lives.....this being bar and restaurant owners. If they allow smoking, those who are against it can go elsewhere. Start a public campaign to ban cigarettes and see the politicians get a wad in their drawers. It's political grandstanding at it's best. They don't give a rat's arse if people smoke or where they smoke. Just let the taxes on tobacco keep rolling in. :(
Given the option the market can take care of itself and address the health concerns of everyone......all it needs is the room to work.
I'm sure the smoking nazis/nannies are pulling out their collective hair over this one.
I can well imagine they are. They are probably trying to figure out how to squash this one in the bud! And the lies the anti's spew about how bans won't hurt a business! Well, this is just one case in point! Look at how the revenue picked up at this one business because of the forced bans elsewhere?
When New York City was forced to go smoke free, the people in New Jersey were yelling across the water "HUrry to our side! Hurry to our side!" Now, the lawmakers have ruined it for New Jersey forcing them into a smoking ban as well.
Sad days for private businesses.
Todd Rutherford is a joke--he's just a younger, more photogenic Jesse Jackson in training.
Nikki Haley is my representative (thank You, Lord!).
Day after day after day the anti's are spewing that second hand smoke is killing everyone. And all the while, the media doesn't play fair and balanced and talk about the WHO's study and the Ornl study on second hand smoke that it is NOT the killer that the anti's want everyone to believe.
The media makes me sick. Especially Fox. Fair and balanced? Not when it comes to the smoking issue. Fox can be just as brutal to their smoking fans as the professional anti smokers out there.
And it's really a sham the way the anti's used Dana Reeve's death and the smoking issue. The woman never smoked, for crying out loud!
| Tax: SC No Cigarette Tax Increase Posted on Sunday, August 28 @ 10:36:33 EDT by samantha |
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That's it! The state government scream they want smoke free everything, all the while using the billions smokers pay in taxes for cigarettes to control, ban and restrict us.
When a state says they can't balance their budgets without increasing cigarette tax dollars, one must step back and take a good hard look at the big picture. And they want smoke free???!!! How can that BE? heh!
Great point. Employees have a duty to learn about working conditions before applying for employment. If you don't like perfume, you should perhaps not apply for a job at a department store fragrance counter. If you don't like tobacco smoke, you may not want to go into bartending, or else look for a bar that doesn't allow smoking (and that is still in business). I never cared for hot, slanted surfaces and have avoided roofing work. It really is a pretty simple concept, that even high school dropouts can apply. And, if you make a mistake and get a job with conditions you don't care for, our wonderful country allows you to seek employment elsewhere.
Mike Huckabee's statement as he signed the bill...
"This was a vote for the majority of those who have suffered in silence, choked in silence, coughed in silence and taken medication to overcome the effects all those years in silence," Huckabee said.
Gasp!
sw
It looks like SC just got added to my list of potential new homes. These comments by the R party are really surprising. Pleasently surprising that the R's in SC are truly taking a conservative stance on this issue.
Today is supposedly "Tax Freedom Day" but it doesn't take into account the taxes passed on to consumers by corporations.
The real Tax Freedom Day doesn't come until sometime in the late summer if those are taken into account.
If everyone really knew how much of their dollar went for ALL taxes, it would get really ugly, really fast.
LOL! Great cartoon! Politicians are so predictable and transparent.
Shocking, isn't it? hehe
No increase in cigarette taxes this time around either. SC is very lucky to dodge a bullet for a change.
Gawd, I never could stand a nanny do gooder! I didn't get this far in my life on a leash with a mother figure guiding me all along the way.
These people need to be commended for stopping a bad habit, be it smoking or eating or whatever, but to constantly harp on someone else who still chooses to do it is horrible. I would distance myself from that person in the blink of an eye. Life is too stressful as it is without having someone harp on us all the time about what we should do or not be doing.
The real Tax Freedom Day doesn't come until sometime in the late summer if those are taken into account.
If everyone really knew how much of their dollar went for ALL taxes, it would get really ugly, really fast.
Well, the President lowered our tax in one way, but all the other taxes are going up! How do we get ahead? The Federal Tax has gone down just so we can further support our own states with higher taxes? I'm completely baffled with this stuff.
I truly understand what they mean today when they say Pork Barrel!
And you are right. If the media told us everything that is really going on, there would be mass panic. I have said this for a long time.
They are disgusting. I wish they would take off their pink glasses and find out how we REALLY feel about them out here!
LOL! That's great. I love that!
I doubt half of em' even know how to log in to a computer. They have aides who do the work.........they (the politicans) just get up and run their stupid heads about things they really know nothing about. Uh, can anyone tell how fed up I am with Crapitol Hill? *~*
Sadly, you are probably right. They have aides to do just about everything for them. I won't elaborate. heheh!
And if they just mingle with their constituents that love them to death, they will continue on believing that they are the greatest things on earth. Sickening.
I was going to elaborate about what the aides do for them, but my better nature took over. Hehehehehehe
LOL! I think we know what we meant. Hahaaaa
Let the restaurants make up their own minds! Let customers make up their own minds!
I'd like to point out that this bill went down, but similar bills have been successful in other states.
LOL! Right!
You mean people can work where they want now? How long has that been going on? :-)
Thanks for the ping!
Hey, Rutherford, why don't you bugger off, you sloganeering, totalitarian sack of crap!
What a dick...
I find it to be bad news, because the bill almost made it through the House. That it had such momentum is NOT GOOD.
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