The Nanny State Is Coming for Your Balloons [OPINION]

First, they want your guns. Then it's the plastic trash bags and straws. Now the nanny state is coming for your balloons. Perhaps they'll take your money next. Oh, wait – too late.

The do-good Democrats who control Beacon Hill here in the People's Republic of Massachusetts are actually considering legislation that would fine you for possessing a balloon. Seriously! They're down with you possessing heroin at a safe injection site – that's compassion – but don't get caught with a balloon. A balloon might threaten a sea turtle half a world away.

I, for one, have had it with these little dictators who want to legislate their morality upon us while living by an entirely different set of rules. For instance, Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton), the chair of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, took a jet to Hawaii last week to attend a conference on climate change. Doesn't the Massachusetts Green New Deal proposal for which Pacheco is a strong advocate frown upon that type of thing?

By the way, Pacheco stated at that conference that he does not think the Baker administration needs the House or Senate's approval to join a regional pact to cap carbon emissions from vehicles. I wonder about the carbon footprint Pacheco left by jetting to the Aloha State to express his concerns about climate change.

Back to balloons. “The sale, distribution, and release of any type of balloon, including, but not limited to, plastic, latex or mylar, filled with any type of lighter than air gas, both for public or private use, is hereby prohibited," according to the bill's sponsor Rep. Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown). Violators would be fined up to $100.

The Massachusetts towns of Orleans, Chatham, Nantucket, and Block Island, Rhode Island have already enacted balloon bans. I've got a great idea. If you don't want a balloon, don't buy a balloon. But stop trying to dictate to me how to live my life to fit your beliefs.

The Massachusetts Legislature has some far more serious things to be concerned about such as potholes. Potholes. Boring stuff, I know, but it is what these clowns are elected to worry about. Not climate change. Not sea turtles. And certainly not about whether I have a balloon.

Hey clowns, DO YOUR JOB and fix the potholes!

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.