Safety first

As of the first of this month the cigarette tax in Minnesota increased by $1.60 per pack. The money is to be used for education but Governor Dayton said his real purpose for pushing this law, was not the tax but the health of the people of the state. It is the punch line for many stories that the speaker says, don’t worry, I’m from the government and I’m here to help. In this case it is a true story. Our state has a democratic governor, senate and house and most of the Supreme Court was appointed by democrats. To say that our state is liberal is an understatement and thus the desire to help the people stay healthy. I think now is the time to take further action in regards to the well-being of our citizens. I suggest we start by placing a tax on all manufactured food items, that contain too much fat or sugar or salt or any other ingredient that we believe is not healthy. These decisions to be made by elected officials. Next all passengers in autos, and any other means of transportation, public and private should be required to ware helmets. Once people are comfortable with that we should require fire proof clothing, similar to what is worn by NSCAR drivers. While other states may not be as concerned about public safety as we here in Minnesota, we will push for the passage of a state highway speed limit of 25 mph. There is no doubt that these changes will protect the citizens from harm and improve their overall health. Next step is to remove the discrimination associated with income disparities. We will do this by making all goods for all citizens less expensive. There will be one type of shoes, one type of pants, one type of shirts, one type of skirts and one type of outer clothing. The only difference will be in the sizes. This will reduce the overall cost for clothing and diminish the variations based on income. The same will be introduced for housing and cars. All houses will be standardized to a 1,200 square foot ranch style with three bedrooms and two baths. Construction cost will decrease significantly as each part of the house can be mass produced and save cost by using standardized production facilities. All cars will be small four door sedans and like Henry Ford says you can have any color as long as it is black. A gas tax of $5 per gallon will encourage people to purchase smaller cars and perhaps electric powered. This will be stage one of the new Minnesota and as people get acclimated to the new ways we can introduce stages two and three. These changes to be announced at a later date. While change is often difficult, in the end the citizens will thank us for their new improved life styles. We do these things not to increase our power or influence but because we know that people cannot take care of themselves and we have the responsibility to help them see the light.