Insanity

            When are the people going to rise up and say Enough to government intrusion into our lives?  When ?

            I can understand that seat belts save lives.  OK.  So do air bags.  Every new car has them, and we all take them for granted now.  But our federal government isn't about to stop there.  It is now looking at mandating rear-view cameras in all new cars.  The cost is estimated to be between $1.9 and $2.7 billion a year.  Next will be blind spot detection mirrors, and then maybe night vision technology.  What else will government think up to protect us from ourselves?
            The Los Angeles City Council has approved a bill banning single-use plastic bags, the kind every supermarket uses to bag groceries.  They're bad for the environment, say the wise men sitting in the shade of the Tree of Knowledge.  Find something else to line your trash baskets or to pick up your dog's poop.  Not to worry.  Once this goes into effect you will still be able to get your groceries in a paper bag...at 10 cents apiece.
            New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants all the citizens in his domain to be vigorous and healthy.  Remember, he's the guy who banned smoking everywhere but in your double-locked bathroom, directed restaurants to warn us about the evils of salt and trans fats, and outlawed big gulp drinks.  Well, he's at it again.  Now he has gotten the compliant City Council to mandate composting.  New Yorkers will have to save their chicken bones and banana peels (without the paper stickers, of course) for compost pick-up trucks.  If there's no compostable material at your curb, you get fined.  Is there nothing to stop this little tyrant from telling the citizens of New York how to live their lives?
            On the national level I can't wait to see how many healthy young people will line up to buy health insurance at $8,000 a pop mandated by Obamacare.   The government is hiring 17,000 new IRS agents to make sure that they do.  That is, when they're not busy harassing taxpayers who believe in patriotism.
            The trillion dollar farm bill, 80% of which is for food stamps, was defeated in the House of Representatives on June 20th.  You would think that the Republican majority gunned it down because it was too costly.  Some 62 Republicans actually did vote No for that reason.  But 172 Democrats voted No, almost three times as many as Republicans... because they didn't think the bill called for enough spending.
            Politicians at every level are calling for more spending, more taxes, more regulations, and still more mandates that tell us what we can and can't do.  Is it any wonder their favorability ratings are in the toilet?
            This insanity has got to stop!