The Department of Energy is flogging use of software that measures home energy use. Here's how it works:

A trained, "qualified assessor" comes to your home -- for a fee -- and collects approximately 40 pieces of data about the home's "envelope" (e.g., walls, windows, heating and cooling systems) during an hour-long walk-through.

I wonder if a "qualified assessor" is as qualified and vetted as an ObamaCare exchange navigator? Sure, sign me up for a troll to spend an hour poking through my house.

In a few years this audit can be rolled into a total assessment of you as a person: healthcare use, eating habits, exercise regimen, gasoline consumption, home energy use, etc., all summarized and sent out by the IRS so you can file it with your 1040 and get the appropriate credits and, more importantly, pay the richly-deserved fines or assessments or whatever euphemism they think up. It's so comforting to know our custodians are looking out for our best interests.

Henry Percy is the nom de guerre for a writer living in Arizona. He may be reached at saler.50d[at]gmail.com.