A Santa Clara County politician thinks adults are incapable to deciding what kids should eat. So who should decide? Well, the government, of course. (emphasis is mine)

Believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, the proposal would forbid the inclusion of a toy in any restaurant meal that has more than 485 calories, more than 600 mg of salt or high amounts of sugar or fat. In the case of McDonald’s, the limits would include all of the chain’s Happy Mealseven those that include apple sticks instead of French fries.

Think this story is a just silly outlier? Think again. Look at the politician’s justification for this proposal. Under the new national health insurance “reform,” I predict we’ll see lots and lots of rules on behavior justified like this:

Yeager knows that even if the board passes his proposal, its effect would be small. Even so, he says, it’s worth it.

“We’re responsible for paying for healthcare in the whole county,” Yeager said. “We pay close to $2 billion annually on healthcare, and the costs have done nothing but rise.” A big part of the increase, he said, is costs related to obesity.