Looks like I won't be eating at Olive Garden anymore.  In addition I won't be eating at Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze or Seasons 52, all Darden Restaurants.  I have now added them to my list of government suck-ups.  (And I normally can't stand the expression "suck-ups", but in this case no other one will do.)

On September 15, 2011 Darden Restaurants decided to collaborate with Michelle Obama's childhood anti-obesity campaign. They have announced that they will reduce the amount of calories and sodium in its menu by 20% over the next ten years.   It just so happens (I am just positive that this is no coincidence) that Darden Restaurants received a waiver on October 26, 2010 that allows them to avoid some of the insurance mandates of ObamaCare.

Darden Restaurants most likely know that the handwriting is on the wall.  They must know that the increased health insurance costs due to ObamaCare will greatly hurt their profits and that they must do something.  So they decide to buddy-buddy up with Michelle in order to get themselves excused from it.  But it won't work.  Giving consent to government intrusions, only paves the way for more.  Further invasions become easier each time they are sanctioned.

ObamaCare will have such devastating consequences for the economy that very few will be able to afford to go out to eat anymore anyway, so getting some waivers now will only delay the inevitable.  As a friend of mine, said, "You shouldn't empower your own destroyer by negotiating with him. That's slitting your own throat."

Some people have said to me that other first ladies have had their causes, so this is no different. Michelle is just looking out for us.  And anyway, eating less sodium and fewer calories should be good for us.  My answer is that no one in the government, let alone first ladies, should be taking on "causes."  The only purpose of government is to protect our individual rights and it should protect our right to make free choices, not take it away.  We are not minions of the state. The government is not supposed to be telling us or advising us what to eat, how to live or breathe. We can decide that for ourselves.

This is not an issue of nutrition, it is an issue of who gets to control your life -- you or the government.  Businesses have the right to offer us a product without government interference.  And we, the consumers, have the right to buy it or refuse it without government interference.  Let us decide for ourselves what we want.  After all, what if the government is wrong about nutrition?  Then what? 

Michelle Obama visited an Olive Garden restaurant in Hyattsville, Maryland when this announcement was made.  I have this to say to them: "You have kissed the feet of the government in order to get special favors. Knowing where your lips have been I have lost my appetite for the food at Olive Garden."