Tea Party: Disaster Readiness = Big Brother

Japan was able to properly prepare for a massive earthquake thanks to a proactive public sector. Would today’s conservatives oppose similar regs?

Earlier today I wrote about how Japan was able to properly prepare for a massive earthquake due to strict building codes and a proactive public sector.  This begs the question, would today’s conservative movement oppose similar regulation? One case in Montana suggests that they might.

Today, Montana state legislators held hearings on House Bill 354. This house bill would eliminate the requirement that landlords equip their homes with carbon monoxide detectors.  The law is being proposed by Wayne C. Stahl, a Republican in the state legislature.

Stahl spoke to FrumForum about the law. He explained his motivation behind the bill was not that he was opposing the requirement itself, he was opposing how the mandate currently only applies to renters: “It’s either got to be one way or the other, you either mandate everybody to do it, you don’t just pick out certain people to make them do it. You either make it equal to everyone under the constitution or don’t do it at all.”

Which begs raises the question, why not choose to expand the mandate? (FrumForum is awaiting a response to this followup question.)

Some Tea Party activists go further. One Tea Party group in Ohio has a post on their website about how “Big Brother Is Systematically Ripping Our Liberties and Freedoms Away” and carbon monoxide detectors make the list.

#5 Someday historians will look back and will be amazed at how much time, money and energy we spent coming up with ridiculous regulations.  A new law requires a carbon monoxide detector to be installed on each floor of all single-family homes in the state of Colorado.  While this may be a "good idea", the fact that the government is now forcing us to do these things under penalty of law just shows how much control they now have over the smallest details of our lives.

Surely even the most conservative of tea party activists can be convinced that mandates to install carbon monoxide monitors are not equivalent to tyranny?

UPDATE: Lawmaker Wayne C. Stahl got back in touch with FrumForum to further explain why he proposed ending the carbon monoxide monitor mandate. Stahl stated that "As a member of the Republican Party, I don't believe in mandates." He also argued that this was what the landlords' association wanted and that he decided to end the mandate because the law to terminate it "had already been written in that way."

Posted at 7:04pm by Noah Kristula-Green

Follow Noah on Twitter: @noahkgreen

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