Republican Nanny State Policies?

Two Republicans have introduced legislation to maintain a ban on the use of cell phones on airplanes:

Political momentum to keep a ban on cellphone calls during flights gained momentum Monday as lawmakers said it would be crazy to allow them.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) became the second lawmaker after Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to offer legislation to keep the ban in place.

“Let’s face it, airplane cabins are by nature noisy, crowded, and confined,” said Shuster, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “For those few hours in the air with 150 other people, it’s just common sense that we all keep our personal lives to ourselves and stay off the phone.”

Actually I understand that some liberals go along with this idea. I’m in a unique situation, being in solo medical practice, where being able to handle calls even if on a long flight would be a considerable convenience to me. I’ll just wear ear plugs during the rest of the flight.

On a related topic, I was really happy when I flew recently that I could keep a tablet on the entire flight. As it was only a brief flight I didn’t bother to pay for internet access, but I would have if it was longer. Previously I would typically bring along a paperback to read during the period when electronic devices were banned and I couldn’t read off a tablet.