Republican Governor of Rhode Island Don Carcieri, in a recent veto of a proposed fishing license, said that saltwater fishing in his state is "a birthright", and that people should be able to cast a line "without government intrusion".
In his November 4th veto statement of the bill titled "An Act Relating To Fish and Wildlife", the Catholic two term governor explained "the federal government wants 'a more accurate and efficient means for acquiring recreational catch and effort data'. This is hardly a compelling reason" to warrant "the imposition of any fee" on anyone 'who occasionally takes his or her children fishing".
"I understand that Congress frequently imposes mandates on the states. However, the Tenth Amendment also provides "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respecitively, or to the people". He went on to state that "mandating that all persons seeking to cast a fishing line.. for the purposes of recreational fishing should be required to pay an annual licensing fee and register with the government is excessively intrusive."
In direct contrast to the seemingly anti-federalist position of his fishing decision, though, was the governor's veto of a medical marijuana law passed by lawmakers in June, where he justified his veto by insisting that the state "should be passing stronger drug laws", not passing laws "that condone the growth, manufacture and sale of a drug that is deemed illegal by the federal government".
California, meanwhile, has a myriad of fishing regulations, permits, and licenses required with a governor that supports every type of nanny state control that comes down the pike. But at least the people's dictate of medical marijuana is still intact.
See also:
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Comments
Statists- consistency is not part of their nature.
Great article! I nearly missed "down the pike".
Unfortunately it's an all too common problem in politics these days. People want all their liberties protected at the expense of others', and think that laws legislating morality are okay as long as they are in line with their own agenda.
Hypocrites.
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