Professor Elam

As uual Walter Williams cuts to the chase in this article about goverment intruion into our lives.  As he says if the government says we cannot smoke  ( i don’t and neither should you but that is not the piont) on a city street, how long before they tell me I cannot ‘smoke’ a chicken in my backyard grill?  No doubt burning wood and charcoal expands my ‘carbon footprint.’  As Williams says, if this sounds far fetched, would you have  you believed that, as one of my friends says,

gee Austin Tx is a great place, you can walk in any bar packing a gun with a license to carry but fire up a cigarette and you go to jail!

John Stosel goes one further.  It is not only admirable but perhaps heroic in the press to ‘donate’ one of your kidneys to somone that needs it, there was recently a photo of one Dallas Cowboy that donated to another, both retired.  He received no money but lots of admiration. 

Okay, now suppose you propose to sell a kidney to finance your way thru medical school. No way, the government says not OK.  Why not?  In this world of test tube babies, such decisions are quite real. If you have known anyone on dialysis, it is a tough life.  Incidence of suicide is high among these folks. Thirty grand won’t get you a new Infinity G 37 coupe but it might be worth a kidney.  Is government right to deny this transaction, we report you decide.

Your take?