Today, whenever the issues of citizenship comes up, no one wants to nail down exactly what it means or requires.   Birth Certificate?  Driver's License?  Proof that you are living in a certain county?  But now it seems that congress has come up with at least ONE requirement for citizenship:  Proof of Heath-Care Insurance.   For the first time in our nations history, we as inhabitants of this land are being told that having proof of health-care-insurance will be required or else huge penalties will be slapped on us ... maybe even jail time.   What happened to "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator to have certain inalienable rights" ?   Did that just get forgotten along the way to socialism?    

   Arguments have been made that states do the same for registering your car at the DMV and requiring car owners show proof-of-insurance.  But these arguments don't fly as driving a car is optional and is deemed to be a privilege and not a right.  Living is not a privilege, but a right (at least the last time I read our constitution).   And where will this all end?  If my government can require this, the most basic aspects of life, then what can they NOT impose on me? 

   Frankly, I am fed up with all the government imposed "requirements" of the nanny-state.   Most of the laws are not so much invented to protect us, but to protect corporations and to keep them in business.   Let's take for example the child car-seat laws.   I, like many people my age, grew up in cars with no car seats at all.   In fact, seat belts were used as lethal weapons against our siblings sitting in the back seat  when mom and dad weren't looking.   Oddly enough, we made it to puberty and onto adulthood.  Then insurance companies got involved and lobbied state legislatures to mandate that we actually wear the seatbelts or else be fined.   Did our legislatures pass those laws because they cared so much for us, or was it because they cared so much for their insurance buddies who where stuffing thousand-dollar bills down their pants?   Did this stop here?  No!   Insurance companies got in bed with car-seat manufacturers and said babies under the age of 1 should be in specially designed carriers and it should be against the law to not use one.   This created a whole new market that was never there before.... the car-seat-market.   Seeing that there was gold in them-there-seats, the manufacturers began their own lobbying and pushed the age and height requiremetns higher and higher until its almost required for kids to be using them when they are going for their own driving test (sarcasm added).  Manufacturers also would "improve" the designs and make older designs un-usable so they couldn't be re-sold and forced parent to buy new ones.  This scam has been used on whole hosts of products ranging from bicycle helmets to heavy-work-equipment and the wheelchair-ramps in parking lots.

    What else could government mandate we buy to be citizens?

• Home computers

Argument: This can be thought of as an extension of the no-child-left-behind bill in that no child should be raised in a home without one.  Apple and Microsoft should lobby hard for this one and raise the minimum hardware requirements from time to time to insure a steady rate of new purchases.  

• Cell phones with GPS built in

Argument: a fair number of people get lost or kidnapped every year and by having one of these the government could more easily locate you if needed (of course they would NEVER use it for any illegal reasons like locating your where-abouts at a DC Tea-Party....no of course not!

• An American made car, van or truck

Argument: since so much of our countries GDP depends on the American auto industry,  buying one keeps people in Detroit employed and keeps the Amercan economy moving.

• A menmbership at a local health-club or gym

Argument:  Let's face it American, we are just getting too darn fat!  Have you been to Texas lately?   Your fat is impacting the mental and physical health of your fellow comrads... urr I mean citizens.  24-Hour-Fitness and other accepted gyms are there ready to help you get rid of that belly or butt fat you are holding onto.    Also, China says that they don't want to give more money to a bunch of fatties anymore so... shape up America!  Or China won't buy our next set of bonds.

• Join a UNION

 Argument:  It's not fair to all the union people to have to do all the picketting of businesses and corporations for you.  Here they are out there day after day after day.  Holding prefabricated signs.  Yelling prefabricated slogans. Marching in circles for hours at a time.  Doing all of this FOR YOU!   You need to be involved too.  You need to get off your rump and help them fight for the rights of workers (or their union bosses money).  

Note: Acutally this is part of the health-care bill. Did you know that if you belong to a union you won't get the health-care tax penalty?  It's true... it's in the bill.

• Volunteer your time

Argument:  Government workers can't do it all.  We need a well funded army of volunteers to do the government's bidding.  This is already being done in high schools across America as seniors are required to do various numbers of hours of "community service" in return for getting their high school diploma.  So why can't we extend this to becoming a voting member of society?    You want to cast a vote?   50 hours of community service please!  (500 if you are a evil Republican).  After all voting is a earned privilege and not a right!

    I am sure the list will not end here, but this is all that I have time to think up at the moment.