tax that big ass!

bododie

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May 15, 2008
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I guess it was just a matter of time before the gov. had to intervene to protect even more people from themselves.

Should fattening foods be taxed?
Posted: 04:00 PM ET
FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Slapping a tax on fattening foods could help pay for health care reform while also combating the nation’s growing obesity epidemic. A new study by the non-partisan Urban Institute says a 10-percent tax on fatty foods could raise more than $500-billion over the next 10-years.

They liken it to the steep taxes on tobacco, which helped dramatically reduce the number of smokers in this country.

However, taxes alone won’t do the job when it comes to battling obesity. The study also recommends banning advertising of fattening foods to children and better labeling these products. (Don't most children get their eating habits from their parents, since they buy the stuff?)

Restaurants and beverage groups have already waged a multimillion-dollar media campaign against any new taxes on food or drinks. They say it’s no time to add taxes on “the simple pleasures we all enjoy” and argue this tax would be unfair since it soaks the poor.

I guess they are saying the poor, obese folks are too stupid to know that an apple is cheaper and more healthy than a donut. If was poor, or obese, I might be insulted. Here come da ACLU.
 
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They liken it to the steep taxes on tobacco, which helped dramatically reduce the number of smokers in this country.

Did it? Did people really quit smoking because taxes brought the price of a pack of smokes to, what, $5? I don't buy them, so I'm not sure.

If a pack of smokes cost $50, maybe that would give some pause, but I doubt it. What it would do, most likely, is create an underground market, much like the underground market for other drugs.

Taxing "fattening foods" opens a real can of worms. What is a "fattening food"? Is one 12 ounce soda a couple of times a week going to make anyone fat? Is that chocolate sundae once in a while going to make one obese?

Nope.

What makes for obesity is eating too much, and not exercising enough.

How can we tax that?
 
What makes for obesity is eating too much, and not exercising enough.

How can we tax that?

What makes for a smoker is..smoking.

It's the same. You are taxing a habit. Those who don't smoke don't care about the taxes on cigs. Those who don't eat a lot of junk food don't care about extra taxes on those items.

Apparently it's easily done.
 
What makes for a smoker is..smoking.

It's the same. You are taxing a habit. Those who don't smoke don't care about the taxes on cigs. Those who don't eat a lot of junk food don't care about extra taxes on those items.

Apparently it's easily done.

What makes a smoker is smoking. OK, but it's pretty easy to define just what is being smoked, at least legally.

What defines "junk food"? Is there an inclusive list that everyone would agree on?

How about that McDonald's burger? No, let's see.... hamburger (meat group), bun (breads and cereals) lettuce and tomato (fruits and veges). Say, that's a balanced meal!

We know what tobacco is. What is junk food?
 
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It's the federal government. Whatever they think will "save us from ourselves" seems to be the trend of the future. Actually it's more like "whatever will save the medical industry from us".
 
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