SmallGovTimes.com

By: Neal Boortz | Published on 01/17/08    

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided that he is going to fight the nanny state culture. Well it's about damn time a politician got up and said something ... or at least publicly recognized it.

Brown wants to prevent the development of useless laws and rules. Sounds great. So what is his first move? He sets up a government advisory council. The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council will report directly to Brown. The council will first examine laws governing obesity, company management and "systemic risk aversion." You know the bit – "Those kids can't be dancing on those stairs, they might fall!" Or "Those hanging baskets might fall and hit someone on the head." Kids in Great Britain aren't joining Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts because of this restrictive regulation.

What might Gordon Brown be talking about? Try this story on for size. Recently in Great Britain there were plans for a children's party at a fire station to raise money for some charity. But guess who came along and put the kibosh on the party? Government, of course, in the person of health and safety officials. They canceled the party because the government nannies were afraid the children might slip and fall if someone spilled a drink. If they wanted to have the party, the fire station would have to lay down carpet. You see the problem was that the risk assessment for the fire station was about $700,000 and that made it unsuitable for a party.

Give me a big league break, would you? How bad can this get?

The unfortunate thing here is that Brown is trying to solve the problem of more government with more government ... an advisory panel. But on further thought that's exactly the approach I have with my idea for a 10th Amendment Commission.

At least they're trying something over there. The boss has put the issue on the table. Now if could only begin to address the problem of the nanny state here in the U.S. As I said yesterday, we're becoming a nation of whining little children scared to death to leave the nest. We get scared or hurt and we stand there like a three-year-old crying and saying "I want my mommy!" Mommy, of course, is the government. Is there a candidate out there who will recognize this and offer to do something about it?

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