Only in the land of the free: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Obamacare/ACA, e911 surcharge, universal school and library surcharge, occupancy permits, zoning, mandatory minimum wage, workers’ compensation, unemployment tax, garage sale/yard sale permits, seat belts and helmets, animal licenses, marriage licenses, death tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, gathering permits, eminent domain, NSA, secret court (FISC), restricted travel, passports, stop and frisk, mandatory identification, blue laws, prohibition, delegate votes, IRS, tax court, defacto parents, TSA, body scanners, strip searches, warrantless cavity searches, civil forfeiture, FEMA, drug/alcohol tests, credit checks, WIC, 9/11 surcharge, weapons permits, use of force, law of parties, rain tax, curfews, active policing, property maintenance codes, PDMP, broken window theory, allergy pill lockdown, Real ID act, death penalty, DHHS, National Defense Authorization act, John Doe summonses and, now, possibly, no dog allowed to stick its head out of a window.

There is thought to be some 300,000 federal laws with penalties, not including state, county and local laws and ordinances. Those I listed above all have amazingly ridiculous authority over people’s lives. Anyone interested enough can find information online to see how free we are.

People should know the flag of a totalitarian democracy. People’s lives, liberty and property are unsafe while the Legislature is in session.

Mike Farrell, Auburn