Anyone else annoyed?

[Luisa]

Well put, Vocalek. I'm not nearly as versed in this fight as many on here but I have enough experience in the mechanics of the regulatory process to know one thing for certain. One thing our Government does not do well or ever is go backwards. Especially since 9/11 and the econ crash. It's very troubling to me. It become accepted that our freedom and liberty can continuously be eroded but for some reason too many people are "ok" with it.

The Patriot Act is an American rights tragedy. It was never really intended to become permanent. Or was it? It was sold on the heels of a great American tragedy. It was an easy sell. And here we are 12 years later with many of the provisions still intact. I suppose if I had blind faith and trust in the Government using it solely for its intended purpose I would feel "ok" about it but I personally will never have that kind of faith and trust.

So here we are at a crossroads with tobacco vs ecigs. It's a sad truth that the decision makers will likely view any and all proposed regulation on ecigs that is softer than tobacco as going backwards. The really disturbing part is that the entire rise of ecigs is actually going forwards at breakneck speed compared to the last....i don't know....since the invention of the cigarette? Sheesh.

I'm in the large minority in my political beliefs but I honestly believe our Country would greatly benefit from a moderate libertarian President for at least one term. If we never go backwards with the erosion of the freedom and liberty that our Founding Fathers put in writing then each year that passes is as good as it gets and they are consecutively getting worse. Would a libertarian President have collateral damage? Absolutely. I'm willing to sacrifice some things to regain some sense of what America was originally supposed to be.

Actually,Bill Buckley, a conservative and a Republican, would have been thought to be a Libertarian today. He was very articulate and very bright. Barry Goldwater,a conservative Republican would have been thought a Libertarian today. He got the "press" treatment" and was branded a nut,a warmonger, etc. All those things were untrue,but people are so easily brainwashed. In todays" atmosphere even if you elected someone with Libertarian views and they tried to undo all the laws that control everything in our lives,they would constantly be in Court defending their attempt to abolish those laws. The media would certainly crucify them,and distort everything they attempted to do. You would have to have both the Senate and the House majority Libertarians and a majority of Supreme Court Justices Libertarians to even accomplish those goals. Sad,but true.

 

[aikanae1]

What would a change in president's or congress do? The federal gov't isn't strong enough to do anything. That's why banks get bail-outs, insurance gets hand-outs and corporations like BT and BP rule with private audience controlling regulatory agencies. That's who has the money. Private lobbyist's get federal taxpayer supported pensions.

I'd bet every member in Congress has been contacted by at least one, more than likely many, lobbyist's for some aspect of banning, controling, taxing, restricting the vaping industry for a very simple reason - the money is not going into the 'right' pockets.

Every prediction has this industry booming and there's few of those anymore. Yet just try and get a SBA loan or capital or even a payment gateway accepting credit cards and it's no go. Blu and other cig-alikes can get investors even from banks.

And then we have taxes being given away to "non-profits" to try and control, restrict, ban, eliminate and demonize vaping. It's mind boggling and depressing. It's not just the FDA but cities and states that were given carte blanc to do whatever they want, however they want to as well.

How many in Congress have been visited by someone who is pro-vaping? We are our own lobbyists. This isn't about facts, this isn't about safety, this isn't about consumer protection or the public. This is about market control and the squeakiest wheel is going to make the most difference.

One of the things vapers do have in their favor is their passion.