News Virginian
Published: February 6, 2008

Whatever might be said about the effect of a divided General Assembly, it cannot be said based upon the early results that this is a do-nothing body. Unlike their counterparts in Washington, who spent more than a year doing mostly nothing after Democrats reclaimed the House, state lawmakers have been cranking out legislation the way a Detroit assembly line does cars, in a constant, steady flow.

As Americans followed Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in their coast-to-coast, heavyweight primary bout on Super Tuesday, the gang in Richmond backed a public smoking ban, toughened animal fighting laws and pushed a compromise payday lending bill through committee. It all begs the question, is the bipartisan spirit producing Edsels or Cadillacs-

We suggest the answer is closer to the former, not so much because most of the bills approved so far have been clunkers, though that's an apt description for many, but because most are pedestrian measures designed strictly within the confines of political expedience.

An example of both is the smoking ban. Arguing against smoking restrictions in America is almost like arguing for cockfighting or drinking and driving. Perhaps it's not a ticket to pariah status but it's an awfully good way to get labeled calloused, careless or painfully naïve.

Smoking poses clear hazards. But we believe in the right of people to make decisions for themselves. That's why we have opposed the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. While we strongly endorse increased local control, local-options bills that state Sen. Stephen Newman, R-Lynchburg, says could allow localities to ban smoking even in private homes and cars are especially disconcerting.

Payday lending limits raise similar concerns. The House Commerce and Labor Committee backed a bill that would make Virginia the first state to restrict the number of payday loans people can acquire in a year. It also would impose interest caps - something we have backed - plus, double the time people have to pay back loans and require a 24-hour waiting period between loans.

Like smokers whose puffing can be intrusive and obnoxious, payday lenders conjure little sympathy. They are cast as predatory, feasting on people already struggling to make ends meet. The descriptions are difficult to contest. Nonetheless, we again are compelled to assert the right of people to make decisions for themselves. Restricting that right to decisions some among us deem advisable means eliminating the right altogether.

Our lawmakers in Richmond have stepped out ahead of our stumbling leaders in the Capitol in advancing legislation, but in so doing have joined a lengthening procession of elected officials who trust themselves more than people to make decisions about their lives. Much of the evidence so far shows us that trust is misplaced.