A basic freedom: the right to waste your own money

Mark Steyn  quotes Energy Secretary Steven Chu on stopping the sale of  incandescent light bulbs  and replacing  them (right)  with compact fluorescents: "We  are taking away a choice," said Chu, "that continues to let people waste their own money." 
Steyn wonders if Secretary Chu has any idea how stupid this argument sounds from an administration that has wasted more of other people’s money than anybody else on the planet.