The 'seat-belt' argument is a pet peeve of mine because it shifts the debate from 'should the government do this' to 'can the government do this' and presuppose

The 'seat-belt' argument is a pet peeve of mine because it shifts the debate from 'should the government do this' to 'can the government do this' and presupposes a yes answer. The argument shifts away from the specifics of the regulation in question to broadness around government authority itself. Additionally, just because the government can force you to wear a seat-belt doesn't mean it has the same kind of authority over just about anything else.