Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Nanny State! Run for Yer Lives!



Michele Bachmann, an arch-conservative member of the House, is really unhappy about the IRS ruling which allows people to deduct the cost of breast pumps etcetera from their taxes:
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the national Tea Party star who is eyeing a possible run for President, really is opposing every initiative from the White House. In her latest comments, Bachmann slammed First Lady Michelle Obama's move as part of her physical fitness campaigns, plus decisions by the Obama administration proper, to promote breastfeeding.
The government has taken recent steps to promote breastfeeding, including a ruling last week by the Internal Revenue Service to declare breast pumps and other nursing supplies as medical tax deductions.
But this is one tax break that's not welcomed by Bachmann, as she said during an appearance Tuesday on the Laura Ingraham radio show.
"I've given birth to five babies, and I've breastfed every single one of these babies," Bachmann said. "To think that government has to go out and buy my breast pump for my babies, I mean, you wanna talk about the nanny state -- I think you just got the new definition of the nanny state."
Mmm. Except how does this differ from, say, the deductibility (is this a word?) of the interest in one's mortgage payments?