Watch Out for the Fat Police

Here is your link.

From the article:

A bill introduced this month in Congress would put the federal and state governments in the business of tracking how fat, or skinny, American children are.

Great. I realize that there are a lot of kids in America who are overweight and out of shape. Some of them are so bad they are gross. I guess the technical term might be "morbidly obese".

However, does anyone REALLY think this is the government's business? I guess in the age of socialized medicine everyone's lifestyle is everyone else's business. Except for promiscuous behavior of course. Women can sleep around all they want and the only thing men can do is pay for the abortions. Don't even think about what homosexuals do in public parks and restrooms.

Sorry if anyone lost their breakfast over that, I'm just pointing out that while everyone's lifestyle is everyone's business when we are all forced to pay for socialized medicine, some lifestyle choices are not everyone's business. All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. I'll try to get back on track now. Assuming that keeping track of how obese other people's children are is everyone's business, does anyone REALLY think the government can handle that job? REALLY!?

Are you kidding me? Just look at the wonderful way the government handles just about anything, from paving and maintaining roads to providing "security" at the airport to securing the borders.

From the article:

States receiving federal grants provided for in the bill would be required to annually track the Body Mass Index of all children ages 2 through 18. The grant-receiving states would be required to mandate that all health care providers in the state determine the Body Mass Index of all their patients in the 2-to-18 age bracket and then report that information to the state government. The state government, in turn, would be required to report the information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for analysis.

I guess it was a false alarm. You see, the federal government isn't forcing anyone to keep a database of how fat the children are. The federal government will just refuse to return tax money to states that don't do it. Don't you feel less oppressed now?

Want to guess who proposed this nonsense? It was Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). A democrat. No kidding. Who could have guessed?

More:

The Healthy Choices Act--introduced by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee--would establish and fund a wide range of programs and regulations aimed at reducing obesity rates by such means as putting nutritional labels on the front of food products, subsidizing businesses that provide fresh fruits and vegetables, and collecting BMI measurements of patients and counseling those that are overweight or obese.

I've got some better ideas. How about parents don't buy junk food for their kids? How about parents save their money instead of buying computer games for their kids or restrict how much time the kid is allowed to play on the computer or sit in front of the tv? How about parents get off their obese behinds and take the kids out and play with them outside or go for a walk?

Do you notice something about the programs Rep. Ron Kind (Socialist-Wis.) wants? They all want to take money from you and give it to someone else.

I wonder how much various fruit and vegetable growers contribute to Kind's campaign?

My guess is that the next step, after collecting a database of obese kids, would be to raise taxes on people with obese kids, to pay for their higher healthcare costs. Maybe even make it so that obese people aren't allowed in the socialized medicine program.

Here is another bit that will make you feel better about the government running your healthcare:

"The provision relates to all children in states that accept grants under the bill," a spokesperson for Rep. Kind told CNSNews.com. "However, it is important to note that no one is forced to come in for a doctor’s visit to get their BMI tested. BMI will be taken at times when the child makes an otherwise scheduled doctor’s visit."

See? You don't have to participate. Unless you go to the doctor.

Now let's get back to the important business of the federal government spending your money on something you don't want:

To pay for implementing BMI data gathering, Sec. 102 of the bill states that the federal government will give grants to states that meet certain criteria, including having “the capacity to store basic demographic information (including date of birth, gender and geographic area of residence), height, weight, and immunization data for each resident of the state.”

The grants also will pay for personnel and equipment necessary to measure patients’ BMI.

More government employees. That's what this nation really needs. Make sure they are all members of the SEIU while you're at it.

And to ensure your privacy:

Rep. Kinder's spokesperson said that any data used to generate a report on the BMI data collected would not include patients’ names.

A congressman actually said that. I'll bet he would assure you that your SSN will never be used as an ID number, too.

Now for a laugh:

At a press conference last week to announce the introduction of the bill, Kind emphasized it would help “busy American families.”

“Making the healthy choice the easy choice for our families is essential to ensuring our quality of life,” Kind said. “I am pleased to work on legislation that helps provide the opportunities that meet the needs of busy American families.”

LOL. Helping "busy American families"!? Helping us out of our money for sure.

You wanted socialized medicine. How do you like it?