Mayor Daley Pushes Back at the Nanny State

RUSH: You know, I’m getting close, if I lived in Chicago, I’d vote for Mayor Richard Daley, and I kid you not. Listen to this: “Mayor Daley had a field day ridiculing aldermen for banning foie gras and suggesting Chicago restaurants sharply restrict artery-clogging trans fats. Now the mayor has a new target: mandatory calorie counts. One week after Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) proposed the idea, Daley shot it down with a sarcastic vengeance. He argued that restaurant patrons can count their own calories,” thank you, “and make their own food choices,” thank you.
“He insisted that restaurants already forced to endure back-to-back bans on smoking and foie gras should be left alone by a City Council with better things to do.” I would vote for this guy. He said, “‘I’m getting ready for Christmas. You’d better believe I’m going to eat and drink. You think my family is going to prepare my calorie count at home? . . . How far should government go? Do we have to have a calorie count? Do we put it on you as an employee? Will you be walking around 24 hours a day in restaurants? How much can we demand from the restaurant industry?’ Daley said. ‘Let’s take our own responsibility. . . . When I go out, I want to enjoy my meal. . . . You know what you’re going to eat — whether it’s a salad, a main meal or a dessert. You know what you’re going to have. There’s no guilt in that. I don’t want people to feel guilty. . . .
“‘Last night, I had turkey. I had mashed potatoes — everything. I enjoyed it. Moderation . . . let individuals figure that out. I don’t think it’s up to . . . everybody else to figure that out for us,'” meaning government. “Last week, [this Alderman] Burke opened a new front in the war on childhood obesity. He proposed restaurants with $10 million in annual sales come clean on their menus and menu boards — by posting calorie counts, sodium and saturated fat content,” at least as large as the name of the menu item or price. Wait ’til Bloomberg hears about this! It’s only a matter of time before this is actually going to happen in New York City. Alderman Burke said, ‘I don’t necessarily believe adults have to be controlled. They ought to make their own lifestyle choices — whether smoking, drinking or eating. But when we come to kids, every medical expert would agree that something needs to be done. Parents need to be more aware of what the calories are,’ he said.
Well, all this adds up to is what I have always said: There is an arrogant condescension from elected liberal Democrat leaders to you, the average person. You’re just incompetent. You don’t know how to raise your own kids. You don’t know how to feed them. You don’t know how to get the best job for yourself. You don’t know how to save money. You don’t know how to be charitable. You don’t know how to take care of people who are less fortunate than you are. You don’t know diddly-squat! You do nothing but mess up your life and everybody else’s life, causing pain and anguish for these politicians who have look at it and take the blame for it. Well, they’re not going to take the blame for it; they’re going to blame you, and so now calorie counts, ban fois gras, ban trans-fats. It’s getting out of hand. “On Tuesday, Daley branded calorie counts yet another subject unworthy of the Chicago City Council’s time.”