What if we were really a free people? Free to lead our lives in a fashion that we want. Free to make choices that the individual approves of, not those choices given to us by our politi-critters.

On Monday amidst the bands and the floats, marchers and metal, there was a nattily dressed version of Lady Liberty. This lady, marking the route by extolling the virtues of open borders. A political message buttressed against a most somber day.

Coming in right around Lady Liberty was the contingent of local pols. The body of people who seek out Augusta with fervent dreams of making a difference but usually ends up proposing bills that negatively impact our freedoms and enjoyment of life.

So it was that I spent part of Memorial Day pondering the impact that these solons may have on your own life, liberty and the pursuit of your own happiness. What follows are just some of the bills that have been proposed by the legislators that call the readership area home. After reading this, ask yourself: if these were to become law, would you be as free as you are today?

One erstwhile legislator cosponsored a bill that would change the requirements as to what could be labeled a bed and breakfast in the state. Why are there any restrictions on what is or is not a bed and breakfast? The state should be in the business of promoting businesses, not in placing artificial restrictions on them.

Speaking of restrictions, this same legislator also cosponsored a bill that would not allow an employer to ask an applicant any information about their criminal history until the applicant has already been given a conditional job offer. In layman’s terms, if you are hiring someone for your lawn care business you cannot ask someone if they have been arrested for breaking and entering. I am sure that your customers are going to be happy about that one.

Not to be outdone by that curious bill, another state representative supported a bill that would have barred state government from asking any applicant about their own criminal history. You read that right. We, the people, could not ask someone looking to work for us if they have spent time in the hoosegow. Makes you wonder whose relative was looking for a job in Augusta.

Several local legislators joined in on a bill that sought to address one of the great issues of our day: Rockweed harvesting. By golly, we have young people leaving this state like it is a fire drill, but we are going to take up the cause of noise pollution when pulling Rockweed out of the ocean. No less than four local representatives and senators signed on to cosponsor this Chamberlain — that’s Neville, not Joshua — like bill. Bravo! Bravo!

One of the more odious bills proposed and cosponsored by an area pol brought up the idea of a local option sales tax. This tax would make each town and city their own fiefdom with the ability to tax at will. The “revenue” would be there for the taking.

Imagine for a moment stepping up to the election booth in 2018 and voting on whether Brunswick would impose a 5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent sales tax to fund a particular program or need. You know that if this bill, LD 1522, gains approval in the Legislature, we will be facing this horror in the near future. Hello unlimited money streams.

One of the more humorous bills that was supported by one of our reps was about touching animals. The Act to Promote Safety with Respect to Touching Livestock or Other Animals requires that there be enough hand sanitizers placed around a farm or area where animals are present to wash one’s hands. It also requires signs about the necessity to wash one’s hands.

Now, I am not an old farm hand or even a cowpoke, but having spent an afternoon or two touring livestock barns and having had Bessy lick my fingers, it would seem prudent to have a thorough scrub down. I do not need a sign for that.

Farms and livestock areas are inherently dirty places. Just one step in an organic vegetarian offering from the south end of a north bound cow tells you all you need to know. We don’t need signs cluttering up the horizon.

Legislators don’t go to Augusta to rule over us most of the time. It just happens. Our freedoms hinge on these men and women believing that you and I can make decisions for ourselves instead of those decisions being made for us.

Thankfully, most of the bills that are proposed in Augusta die a quick death in committee and never get near a final vote for passage. Unfortunately, some do and it is those bills that we need to watch out for and speak against. If we don’t, then we all get the government and the laws that we deserve.

That’s my two cents…