The Worst of 2008 Redux

Part 1 of this 2 part Worst of 2008 dealt with police and the military style tactics they are using while the courts, governments, and yeah even you sheep out there, turn a blind eye to it. Part 2 is all about the government. Anything from local idiots to national morons is fair game. It just has to infringe on your rights as a citizen. BTW, ignore the RNC elephant symbol in the cartoon... it could just as easily be a DNC donkey. They both shit a lot. Well, the absolute worst government shit of 2008 is a conflagration of fuckups that will have each taxpayer digging deep. The Bailouts. AIG Insurance; Mortgage Financiers; Investment firms; Banks; Automakers... take your pick. They were all private sector businesses that made (and continue to make) bad business decisions. Well, when a mom and pop pizza shop makes a bad business decision, its closing time... might even be bankruptcy time if the shit really hit the fan. But not for the folks who pour millions upon millions into the campaign coffers of our elected officials. Nope. For them, our elected monkeys will sling shit at the wall until something sticks (and stinks), then give them OUR money to keep them in business (and gold plated bathrooms and private jets). Basically the government has taken partial ownership in those industries. Hmmm, nationalized banks, insurance, and labor.... sounds like 1941 Germany. Sieg Heil! The storm troopers are training as local police. On the local level... The Power and Light District in Kansas City, and the sheer amount of money that the city lost by getting in bed with the developers. The average taxpayer gets no break. The average worker still pays and pays tax after tax... but not the rich bastards who run the P&L District. From the cushy tax incentives for businesses, to the Orwellian dress code enforced on anyone who dares to venture into the bottomless pit of beer, booze, and sidewalk puke... this is local government at its worst. California, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Maine state governments have banned smoking... in your own car. If you have someone in YOUR car under a certain age, these states have made it illegal for you to light up a cigarette. I think it would have been better if they banned you from playing any music I don't enjoy... but don't these lawmakers think? You (and the underage passenger) are in a vehicle burning fossil fuels, creating all types of toxins, and cruising through air that other vehicles are spewing their own craptastic load of carcinogens into. And we've gotta make sure you don't spark up a freakin Marlboro Light! Damn straight! On a lighter note (not really, but it is funny in a sad kind of way). Anchorage Alaska has told one resident he isn't allowed to build a large snowman on his property. It's a SNOW MAN. Yeah, it is a BIG ASS snowman... but the city cites traffic problems as one of the reasons for the ban. Oh for Christ's sake. Its snow! Leave the guy alone. Snowzilla isn't the nuisance... it's the government with their noses up every ones asses. Oh, you can pretty much add any law passed that was "for the children" to this list of Worsts. Yeah, some are probably "ok" laws.... but most aren't. Most of them are passed to take the place of parents who aren't. Parents. Just because some Dick and Jane can't keep their own child from drinking soda and eating twinkees all day long doesn't mean ALL of us need a law regulating it.