Obesity Tax

Obesity Tax

Well, I guess THIS shouldn't surprise me. Yes, as a fat guy I might be tempted to take this personally, but really the issue is about freedom and the government trying to be our ever-interfering and knowing better than us mother.

Hey, why pick on soda???? I'm fat and I hardly drink ANY soda. Why not MORE tax on beer? Candy? Chips? Sofas? Cable TV? Red meat? Bacon? Eggs? (Remember how eggs have gone back and forth on the public opinion healthy scale?) Tax Penalties for not belonging to a health club? Or maybe they should just leave us fat people alone and admit (like homosexuality) that it's in our genes. Whew...I feel so free and liberated now. Please deep fry that beef fat for me and put it on a stick. Yum! (Hey, not my fault...I've no control here.)

Anyway, who gets to decide what food or behavior is unhealthy? Popular vote? So-called "experts"?

The irony in this story is the part about public health officials cheering this tax and acting as if this is actually going to reduce consumption of "the dew" et. al., let alone cure the obesity epidemic. "Soda's too expensive...please pass the deep fried twinkie and a bottled water." Yeah, sure...problem solved.

Meanwhile, as the article shows, the state is counting its revenue before it hatches...basing their plans upon what exactly? I thought this was to HELP us poor senseless people choose NOT to drink soda? LOL...yeah right...hey, they needed money and a benevolent cause to obtain it.

Just wait until the state provides our healthcare...at which point they'll have
a REAL VESTED interest and a moral obligation in this sort of mothering behavior. We'd better all hope our little food or behavior fetishes (whatever they may be) never ends up as a blip on the government nanny radar.

It's all so stupid...if we cannot educate people out of bad eating habits (combined with the reality of early death), you think a bit of taxation will do it?

I think I'll batter up and pan fry a can of coke for dinner tonight. And then try and ponder where this will all end.

Comments

Steve Robinson said…
"Sin" taxes are common, but the new PC sins are getting more personal: being overweight, meat eating, lard and processed food loving. When will they start taxing "ugly"? I'm sunk.
4:23 PM
fdj said…
I'm not sure which is more disturbing to me with regard to sin taxes: the social engineering or the cynical government just looking for a convenient way to raise taxes.

As the list of politcally incorrect products grows, it would seem they have a never ending supply of potential money raising (stealing) opportunities.

I guess I should be thankful they don't tax real sins - I'd founder as well.
5:16 PM
Steve Robinson said…
I think the issue for me is that I don't think they are cynical...I think they really believe they are doing something good by social engineering through taxation. But, yeah, it also creates an aura of "caring" while they are lining the pockets of government employees, so that's a bonus. I'm glad I'm almost dead. :)
7:10 PM
fdj said…
It seems with every year I add to my age I grow to be more of a curmudgeon with regard to government...but there is an irony here: if they think they are going to stop people from drinking soda by taxing it, why are they counting their revenue from the tax in the budget? It's almost as if they KNOW it isn't going to give anyone pause in drinking coke - except perhaps really poor people. Why not just ban the stuff if we REALLY need to be saved from it?

I think the state once floated an idea here in WA to tax coffee...as I recall it went over like a lead balloon. One can almost imagine a Puget Sound Coffee Party in which sea life throughout the region suddenly became VERY hyper.

It'll be interesting to see if New York has better luck with soda.
7:38 AM
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