Andrew Napolitano: 'Nudge Squad' Goes Too Far

Andrew Napolitano said the Obama administration is overreaching with its recently revealed "Nudge Squad."

"What will they think of next? The government can't deliver the mail, and they want to tell us to fix the broken screens in our house, clean our attics and change the oil in our cars? These are not functions of government," the former New Jersey Superior Court judge and Fox News contributor said Thursday.

"If the Constitution protects anything ... it protects the right to be different. We don't need the government in our faces telling us how to live," Napolitano said on "Fox & Friends."

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Napolitano was referring to a so-called "Behavioral Insights Team" put together by the Obama administration to explore ways that might encourage Americans to improve or change their lives. Paying back-taxes, making homes more energy-efficient, and eating better are just some of the things that could be addressed with an ad campaign or other promotional effort, FoxNews.com reported Tuesday.

"We have a Constitution — says what the federal government should do and limits it to only doing that. This type of nudging us and telling us how to live is not there," Napolitano said.
"When does a nudge become a push?"

Napolitano stopped short of suggesting the program amounts to an effort at mind control, but he said it still goes too far.

"This particular administration is interested in controlling people, even if the Congress is not," he said. "And this is one of the ways it will do it. Nudge, nudge, push, push, elbow, elbow."