Last week the federal government proposed rules regulating the storage and preparation of eggs. What arrogance. Are we so thick that we need a national nanny wagging her finger at us at every turn?
The federal egg patrol will be a joint venture of the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration. The goal: to protect Americans from salmonella-tainted eggs.
If that's a legitimate function of government, then we should demand bureaucrats protect us from shaving accidents, venomous insects and the common cold. After all, those can be deadly, too. In fact, they're probably as lethal as salmonella-contaminated eggs, which kill an estimated 40 people or so each year.
There's no doubt that eggs - and other foods - can pose risks if they're not properly stored and prepared. But reducing those risks takes only a little common sense. It's not necessary for government to tell the public that eggs should be cooked thoroughly to prevent sickness. Mothers have been preaching that for years.
Nor is it necessary for the government to require egg cartons to carry instructions recommending that eggs be refrigerated. Mom was pretty clear about that too.
Despite its obvious silliness, the egg proposal is likely to become regulation. And it will do so with little, if any, opposition. There's so much precedent for government meddling that Americans barely raise an eyebrow anymore at the absurdities coming out of Washington.
After all, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission - the nanny of all government nannies -has been especially vigilant. Through the years it has advanced the public well-being by: issuing safety guidelines for in-line skating; requiring warning labels on charcoal bags that alert backyard chefs to the hazards of indoor grilling; banning lawn darts; and forcing toy makers to festoon their products with warning labels.
Even before the CPSC began its crusade in 1972, the federal government had been protecting us from ourselves for years. It's given us a society where products ranging from pillows to power tools must have warning labels, air bags that can kill are forced upon the driving public and government regulations cover virtually every facet of life - or try to.
For instance, the Food and Drug Administration once considered a rule forcing restaurants to prove that dishes labeled ''light,'' ''low-fat'' and ''healthy'' indeed were. And there's another - the Agriculture Department - that's put down rules for making frozen pizzas.
At what point does government protection descend into the ridiculous? Most of the time, it seems to us.
The growth of the nanny state is clear evidence that high taxes and free spending aren't the only ways a government can exceed its legitimate - and common-sense - limits.
But Washington hasn't been too concerned with those limits for some time now. It cares more about doing what's best for us - no matter the cost.
Now there's a warning label we'd like to see: Government regulations can be hazardous to your freedom.
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