Throughout 2014 my IWF colleagues and I have documented dozens of examples of government overreach by the Nanny State. They include harassing homeschooling families, micromanaging the foods we eat, purchase, and serve to our children, mandating breastfeeding, banning soda and bake sales, arresting parents for not infantilizing their children, and giving sex and dating tips to adolescent girls.
Just keeping track of so many examples is more than a full-time job. Watchdog.org’s Eric Boehm has also reported on the many instances of a Nanny State run amok this past year.
The latest was the federal government’s recent denial of a men’s underwear patent. (WARNING: if you’re offended by various names of women’s undergarments, such as Spanx, you might not want to read the name of this Norwegian brand of men’s briefs. However, if you laughed out loud to Saturday Night Live’s December 2003 NPR Delicious Dish skit, you should be fine.)
Here’s a list of some of my favorite Watchdog.org Nanny State nonsense from 2014:
Nanny-state city of the week: Minneapolis wants to ban take-out trays
Skim is in: CT lawmakers want to ban whole milk in day cares
Nanny of the Week: Virginia hoses down car wash fundraisers
Nanny of the Week: Even a summertime trip to the beach can’t be nanny-free
Nanny-stater of the week: Fargo limits kids to less than four shots of juice per day
Nanny of the Week: Vermont city could ban ‘human activity’
Nanny of the Week: Mississippi makes bird feeders illegal – by accident
Nanny of the Week: School bans lip balm, 11 year-old girl fights back
Nanny of the Week: Seattle imposes fine on residents who throw away food
Nanny of the Week: Proposed bans on Thanksgiving Day shopping
Bringing such examples of out-of-bounds-government to light is a first step toward restoring constitutionally limited government and personal responsibility.