The People’s Republic Of Philadelphia
By Wyatt Earp | September 18, 2008
![stewie](/wp-content/uploads/stewie.jpg)
Check your liberty at the door.
It’s funny how the birthplace of liberty has transformed into an Orwellian state almost overnight:
A plan to stop drivers in Philadelphia from using cell phones is now heading to a City Council committee. And the measure could also cover skateboarders, rollerbladers, and bicyclists.
Three city councilmembers — Green, Greenlee, and Rizzo — introduced a bill that would ban cell phone use not only by drivers but also by skateboarders, bicyclists, and rollerbladers.
Mayor Nutter says the idea of an expanded ban is an interesting one:
“I did wonder how you could talk on a cell phone and either rollskate or skateboard at the same time. On the one big issue, about motorists in their vehicles, I am pretty clear about support for that. I’d like to hear more about the cyclists, skateboarders, all that.”
The sponsors on Council say this is sorely needed. But others say they’ve tried this before and found that only the state can regulate cell phones in cars.
If only there were more important issues at hand for City Council . . .
Council was also scheduled on Thursday to hear from Mayor Nutter on the city’s budget woes. He will seek City Council’s cooperation in helping close a projected $450-million budget shortfall over the next five years, though any immediate cuts he wants would not necessarily need Council approval. (H/T - KYW1060)
Yeah, that budget disaster can wait. Council has important work to do!
September 18th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The council is only emulating the award winning popular behavior of their national brothers and leaders, who are hell bent on healing the planet, ignoring foreign energy dependence and screwing up enormous national budgets with trillion dollar bank bailouts of a mess they created with their own social engineering experiments. Give them a break. Monkey see. Monkey do.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
So, ummmm….Philly is trying to overstep its bounds again? Surprise, surprise!
Hey it is not like Philly has an economic and education crisis or anything.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Insol - This is what happens when you have 50+ consecutive years of Democrat rule.
RT - And it’s not like we’ve had over 1,000 homicides in the last three years, either.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:04 am
It’s the People’s Republic of PA anymore; did you hear that there is a NO SMOKING policy at all the state universities? You can’t smoke on campus, not even outdoors.
I’m glad they didn’t put that in place back when I was at Cesspool of Liberalism U. of PA!
And I changed my blogroll. I deleted you.
KIDDING!
September 19th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Democrat rule = socialism.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
If you outlaw cell phones, only outlaws will have cell phones.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:50 am
My 2 cents?
Why tackle real problems with real solutions that would require hard work and tough decisions when it’s much much easier to invent phony problems, come with a phony solution and then get your mug in front of a TV so you can tell all the peons what a great job you’re doing “keeping people safe.”
September 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Mayor Nutter “I did wonder how you could talk on a cell phone and either roll[er]skate or skateboard at the same time.”
It’s something they picked up from their elders, who after a bit over a century learned how to walk and chew gum at the same time.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
This piece of **** is more important than the city budget? Man, city council certainly knows what’s more important, don’t they? Morons!