I think you're all missing svtcarboy's point.
I'm sure to most of us smoking bans in restaurants and bars are great and wonderful. I know I love it.
But why does the government have to mandate it? Why do we need a law that tells businesses what they can and cannot allow on their own property -- and we're talking about something that doesn't affect surrounding land values.
I love going to a smoke-free restaurant -- but if I really hated that much in the first place I would have complained -- we all would have complained -- and the business would have done it on their own because it would have made fiscal sense, because the customers would have demanded it.
Instead we have the government telling businesses what I want in a broad sweeping reform that affects places where the customers don't give a flying [censored] about whether there's smokers or not.
It's no different than if the government went in and mandated that all McDonald's stop selling unhealthy food. I have the right to be unhealthy if I want, and if the majority of McDonald's customers demanded healthier food and they change their menu (as is happening), so be it.
The government has no right telling McDonald's what services to offer their customers, whether that's "Super-Sizing" or Smoking.
