Is anyone other than me getting really annoyed by the "Click it or Ticket" campaign that has recently been launched with such fervor in the last month. Does anyone realize that the government is actually making driving without a seatbelt a crime?

Now, I've been wearing seatbelts since they first became standard equipment in cars. I was a child then and I've been wearing them ever since. I don't need a law to tell me to be safe. I don't want to die, or worse, be horribly disfigured by being thrown through a windshield. I have common sense. I'm an adult and I have chosen to wear my seatbelt. I object strongly, though, to the idea that I no longer have a choice in the matter. It is, after all, my life we are talking about. Adults have the right to be stupid.

It's fine if they want to pass a law requiring children to be in car seats and wear seatbelts. I have no objection to that. Parents don't have the right to risk their children's lives, but they certainly have the right to risk their own. It is not the government's job to protect me from myself. Their job is to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic. Some guy who's not wearing a seatbelt is no threat to me. He is only a threat to himself.

So let's take a look at this campaign. There are ads everywhere: in newspapers, magazines, television, billboards, and even on You Tube. How much is this costing the taxpayers. Here we are, trying to figure out a way to cut deficit spending, and they choose now to run a costly campaign to keep you and I from killing ourselves. Do they really care so much about our lives that they feel it's more important to run a costly seatbelt campaign than solve our deficit problem? I think we all know the answer to that. The government cares about one thing and one thing only: the taxpayer. We are not people to the government, we are taxpayers. They can't afford to lose the income. If you don't believe that, ask yourself why a law that formerly resulted only in a warning has suddenly become a $100 fine. Ask yourself why, suddenly, they are including "day or night" in their advertising. Are they planning to use infrared glasses to check up on passing drivers? How much is that going to cost? Do our police have so little to do that they can afford to sit by the side of the road and watch every passing car to make sure that everyone is buckled up?

I'm getting a little tired of the government; and by that I mean local, state and federal, using my welfare as an excuse to make money. It borders on the absurd. Think about all the reasons they now have to ticket you. You can be ticketed for speeding and, depending on the state, talking on your cell-phone while driving, smoking outside, smoking in your car, not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle, or swimming without a life guard present, all designed to protect us from ourselves. Really? Or is it just another way to collect revenue?

The most basic freedom in life is the freedom to choose to be safe or live dangerously. Should we outlaw race-car driving, sky-diving, wind-sailing, deep sea diving, pleasure boating, skiing, or cliff-diving, all of which could get us killed? For that matter, why not outlaw driving altogether? It is dangerous after all, even with seat belts and airbags. In fact, many of us are in greater danger from the airbag in the car than we would be without it. I'm less than five feet tall. Nevertheless, the same government that makes me wear my seatbelt won't allow me to remove the even more dangerous airbag from my car. I have to sit so far back from the steering wheel that I can barely reach the pedals and can not see the road directly in front of me. When people complained about not being able to turn them off or have them removed, the government's response was that those few people who are too small to be safe with airbags are an acceptable loss when weighed against the benefit to others. Funny, I don't feel that way at all and I'm sure that most other short people would agree that they are not acceptable losses.

The bottom line is, that the government is passing too many intrusive laws for the sole purpose of collecting fines. Whether or not one chooses to live dangerously is none of their business. We need protection from their over protectiveness. There are far more important things for the government to be concerned about than whether or not I choose to wear a seatbelt. Fix the deficit, put people to work, lower our taxes, solve the Social Security and Medicare crisis. Leave us alone. Stop taking money out of our pockets on the pretext of concern for our welfare.