Who wants the government to tell our kids what they should eat?  Not me.  Regrettably, since The First Lady has no purpose other than pet causes, government is needlessly perpetuating its involvement in an area that lies outside its purview.

Michelle Obama’s cause?  Childhood obesity.  It’s a serious issue, to be sure.  So is obesity in general in this country.  Yet against all rules of logic, last year Congress passed the feel-good-sounding Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.  All this bill actually does is extend the federal Child Nutrition standards that have been around for decades – the same standards that may partially be a cause for childhood obesity (as the White House press release reminds us how many children’s meals are taken at school).

The solution, of course, does not lie with government, but with common sense. The government “solution” is to ramble on about food pyramids and dietary guidelines.

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At the center of the health care debate is the simple – but profound – question of whether government can deliver services, in this case health care services, better than private enterprise sensibly regulated.   President Obama clearly believes that the ‘public option will not only be more equitable but more efficient as well – a claim he made when he spoke to the Joint Session of Congress earlier this year.  Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

The reason Obama is wrong, and the Left in general on issues of public options versus private enterprise, is simple human nature.  When it comes to such matters, it was never so well explained as by the legendary Milton Friedman:

“There are four ways in which you can spend money.  You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else.  For example, I buy a birthday present for someone.  Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost.  Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself.  And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch!  Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else.  And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get.  And that’s government.”

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