to figure out why people think government is too invasive.

While I pity the fool who actually made it to page 2,045 of the Senate's recently released health care bill, i commend them for pointing out that the bill calls for an excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery.  "Tucked away in Section 9017 on page 2,045 of the 2,074-page Senate health care reform bill is a 5 percent excise tax on elective cosmetic medical procedures...The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the new tax could generate $5.8 billion over the next decade. "  And this attempt to save $6 billion comes from the same people who are trying to slip an additional $215 billion over the same period through Congress by detaching a section from the main healthcare bill and passing it separately.

Tax policy guru Roberton Williams is quoted as saying, "They need money wherever they can find it and this seems like a good place -- unnecessary surgery.  These things are done by choice, not out of medical necessity. Why not tax them?"

Now I don't want to come across as a Johnny Drama whining about a 5% increase on my calf implants, because I find elective cosmetic surgery pointless and vain.  But I think Williams misses the point.  It's not that those surgeries are unnecessary (because they certainly are), but that an attempt to tax something like cosmetic surgery is no more than an effort to legislate morals.  Put simply, the government is telling its citizens what it condones and what it will "punish" via excise taxes. 

In an economy like this, where consumer confidence is extremely low, Congress should be passing legislation that encourages consumer spending, even if it's on things most of us find totally pointless.  And if the government is really looking to save a few billion over the course of the decade, it could do something about the Murtha airport. 

Either way I have a problem with the government passing judgment on different types of spending, because if I want to waste my money on something like Stattracker for my Yahoo Fantasy League, that's my own foolish decision.