As if all the court rulings flouting the Constitution and striking down state bans on same-sex marriage are not enough in recent years, we now have a ruling by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS – which you will recall recently ousted Kathleen Sebellius over the horrific roll-out of the federal healthcare exchange) stating that Medicare will be allowed (read required) to pay for gender reassignment surgery (read sex change operations) for anyone who is age 65 and over.

It’s bad enough that we taxpayers have to foot the bill for traitor Bradley Manning’s sex change (I refuse to call him “Chelsea”). Now our pooled money that we pay in through the mandatory tax withholding on our hard-earned income (FICA) will be going to pay for sex changes for people like the 74 year-old man who wants to have his penis permanently removed. (It is hard to read the story on Yahoo because they keep calling him “her” when it is a man!) He is the face of this story because he is an Army veteran whose request for surgery was denied two years ago. I don’t care if he is a veteran. He got out years ago and has not been active duty for decades. I appreciate his service, and he can certainly live as a woman, but by golly he should pay for his penis removal himself.

Here is what Mr. Mallon said to the board:

“Sometimes I am asked aren’t I too old to have surgery. My answer is how old is too old?” the veteran, Denee Mallon, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, said in an email interview before the board issued its decision. “When people ask if I am too old, it feels like they are implying that it’s a ‘waste of money’ to operate at my age. But I could have an active life ahead of me for another 20 years. And I want to spend those years in congruence and not distress.

Let me answer Miss Mallon’s questions. How old is too old? 74 is too old! In fact, ANY age is too old! Indeed, it is not a matter of what age is too old. The question that should be asked is why should taxpayers have to foot the bill for ANYONE’s sex re-assignment surgery? We do not pay for nose jobs or breast enhancement and hair transplants, and I am sure people desiring those surgeries would like some “congruence” and stress relief in their lives also.

This makes me hopping mad. And the real kicker in it all is that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency within HHS that manages Medicare, opted not to defend the transgender surgery exclusion before the board hearing the appeal. Sound familiar? It is the Obama administration’s tactic for anything in the law and regulations that they do not like. It is how the California same sex law was struck down last year. And it is why we have scores of illegal aliens flooding Texas at this very minute. It’s the way that this administration flouts all laws that it does not like and which it thinks are politically incorrect (read won’t get them the votes).

I am years away from Medicare. But when I get to age 65, I am going to demand liposuction and hair electrolysis and every other surgery I can think of that will  ease my distress and make me feel “congruent.” I’m sure there will be a doctor out there somewhere who will swear to my psychological need for it.