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Lieu Bill Would Assault The Poor
Steven Greenhut: Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, is something of the ultimate Nanny Stater, a man who can find no apparent area of life where government should not intrude. In the name of helping reunite people with their lost pets, Lieu introduced a bill, now headed to the governor, that would mandate the microchipping of cats and dogs. This can easily cost 50 bucks a pet and involves much hassle, especially for those of us with multiple pets. The result will be that more pets will be abandoned as people decide not to comply with the new law. It will also result in more government intrusion as animal control officers get additional rights to invade our property to check out the pets. Lieu’s bill is an assault on lower-income people who don’t have the extra hundreds of dollars to comply with this nonsensical legislation. Perhaps Gov. Jerry Brown will have mercy on them and veto this monstrosity. Shouldn’t poor folks be allowed to enjoy the companionship of a cat or dog also? Lieu epitomizes everything that is wrong with this state. In his bizarro world, nothing is left to individual choice. Government agents get vast powers over our private lives. Citizens — subjects, really — face increasing fees, penalties, fines and rules to prod us into complying with whatever idea pops into the leaders’ head. Microchipping pets is a fine enough idea as long as the owners get to choose it. Most of the pets that wind up in shelters, by the way, are not those from responsible pet owners whose family dog gets lost. He has to know that. But the law will provide new powers and responsibilities for government employees, and Lieu is nothing if not an effective representative for the unions that elect him to office. AUGUST26, 2011
Comments(7) |
May 18, 2013
Ted’s on my side in the battle to preserve my unalienable right to consume shark fin soup! Until he manages to ban the use of the rest of the shark, that is.
“Lieu’s bill is an assault on lower-income people who don’t have the extra hundreds of dollars to comply with this nonsensical legislation. Perhaps Gov. Jerry Brown will have mercy on them and veto this monstrosity.”
I doubt it. These creeps never miss an opportunity to gain more control over our lives and micromanage ever aspect of society.
I’m not for forced chipping of pets but I’d be all for chipping Liue and Brown.
An animal control official harassed and terrorized my mother over the cat she was watching for a daughter. He intimidated her and was so pushy and mean. Mean to old seniors on limited incomes. I was so angry when she told me what this man said and how he threatened her if she didn’t get all the paperwork in order. This just brings it all back! They have badges. Next thing they’ll be carrying stun guns.
Next they’ll chip kids.
– John Seiler
While agree with what you are saying that the government shouldn’t be requiring this, I always laugh at the “Assault on poor people” argument. If these poor people can afford the thousands of dollars a year it takes to feed/care their pets, they can afford the $50 to chip them.
Interesting that we killed this monstrosity as part of AB1634 back in 2007, SB250 in 2009, and career politician Lieu is back again with this bullshit.
Simply don’t chip them and don’t license them.
And tell the politicians when it comes to chipping, they can go first, right between their ears, because there’s plenty of empty space there for as many chips as they want.
I recall in one neighborhood where I lived, there was a vicious Rottweiler roaming the neighborhood and killing cats and scaring kids. It killed our cat right in front of my young daughter. Various neighbors called animal control and no one ever came out or returned our calls. My neighbor went down to their office and they said there was nothing they could do. But you can guarantee that animal control officers showed up at my door every year to make sure my dog and cats had the proper licenses and that we were paid up with the county. That epitomizes government. It does nothing other than collect revenue so that it can pay the salaries and pensions of its employees. My neighbor went out one night and quietly took care of the vicious dog and that was the end of that.