Symptoms of the Disease: LEO salaries and mini-golf direction from federal government

I really should get back to my Symptom of the Disease series. If Jim and I were to write a book, we’ve discussed this as a topic. Kind of a mesh between Mark Levin’s Liberty & Tyranny and Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption. One leads to the other. Anyway…

Two quick examples as we wait for the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling today.

In Hartford, Conn., the federal government has chosen the Hartford Police Department as this week’s “winners” in the Community Oriented Policing lottery. The federal government will hand over $1.7 million from Obama’s Stash to fund 12 police officers in the city. The funds are enough to cover the salaries and benefits for three years.

Of course, nobody thinks ahead three years from now, but I’ll tell you what will happen. The Hartford Courant will write a story about how devastating it will be for the city to lose 12 of its officers due to “budget cuts.” They will complain about how the federal government is cutting their budgets to the point of near armageddon. They will blame the federal government for having to raise local property taxes or the Connecticut sales tax – or whatever – to keep the streets safe.

It’s simple, if the city needs the cops the city and its residents should be willing to pay for it today.

This is not new, it’s been happening for decades and it is a Symptom of the Disease.

Next topic… miniature golf … you know … put-put golf. For some unknown reason, the federal government has figured they need to regulate this activity to ensure the private business courses are accessible to the disabled. Here are just two of the written standards.

Fifty Percent Of Miniature Golf Holes Must Be Accessible

The 2010 Standards require that 50% of holes on miniature golf courses be accessible to persons with disabilities.  The holes that are accessible must be consecutive, but there can be one break in continuity so long as the final hole on the course is included.  For example, if only holes 1-8 are accessible, there can be a break such that players finish their round on the 18th hole of the course.

Requirements for The Teeing Ground

Players must have an accessible route to the first accessible hole, and all accessible holes thereafter.  As well, there must be a clear floor space area at the start of play for each accessible hole that is 48” x 60” minimum, with a slope no steeper than 1:48 (2%) in all directions.  This allows the player to tee off on a level surface.

The United States Constitution is being shredded every minute of the day by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington DC. I’m embarrassed. If you want to regulate miniature golf holes, it absolutely can not be done at the federal level. Article 1, Section 8 and the 10th Amendment are being blatantly ignored.

We are the United STATES of America for Christ’s sake, and the federal intrusion into the rights of states and the people are being crushed. I’m not fine with central planning and as I have said before, we must reverse this trend and be willing to promote and support conservative ideals for the next five decades. Yes, it took that long for us to get here and it may take that long to get us back.

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

6 Comments

  1. joe_m on June 28, 2012 at 11:51 am

    The USA is dead!

    Long live the USSA.

    The Supreme Court has ruled, the Federal government can force you to do anything. Failure to do their bidding will result in a tax, failure to pay the tax results in the seizure of all?your property and jail.

    So much for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.???
    ?
    ????



  2. JBS on June 28, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    This is getting scary. This day will be referred to as the greatest tax levy day in history.
    Micromanagement of every day activities. Private business. Neat how $1.7 million runs out in three years, just in time for the next election. I’m afraid to ask what is next.
    Vote the Scam Artist of the Century out! Vote Obama OUT!



  3. Lynn on June 28, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    Steve you are so right about the scenario of the 12 police officers. I have been railing about this stuff for years. Your town applies and gets a grant for whatever and when the term is up We the tax payer has to pay to keep whatever. But miniature golf, no one should mess with my favorite game!



  4. stinkfoot on June 29, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    I do not think an administration that instructs American gun dealers to sell weapons to Mexican criminals in the hopes that an American gets killed with one of them has the moral authority to regulate anything outside the prison cells the members deserve to occupy for the rest of their lives- let alone miniature golf or any other recreational business.
    ?
    ?
    ?
    — and it’s a cynical twist of irony that they would play funding games using law enforcement as the bait to create the illusion that a? demand for more funding and resulting higher taxes through temporarily kicking in their dirty money to “help” a city or state pay for extra cops- ultimately leaving local budgets scrambling to find funding to retain the extra manpower when the federal sugar water dries up..
    ?
    ?
    ?
    Does the behavior of the fed not resemble that of a drug pusher- looking to create an addiction and an ongoing “need” for more “help”.? Local budget makers should start finding ways to cut out any need for federal money.
    ?



  5. geofreyg on June 30, 2012 at 11:28 am

    great post, however one line I was a bit taken a back by.. “We are the United STATES of America for Christ?s sake”?
    I’m by no means a bible thumper, but I found it a little inappropriate.
    I’m not trying to be politically correct, I just think we throw around the term Jesus Christ like it means nothing.



  6. Tim-in-Alabama on June 30, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    Federal regulations on mini-golf course slopes is part of the greater slippery slope.



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