This is the best idea ever since taxing cigarettes extra!!?

Question

Do you agree with this article? http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/hl_nm/britain_fat_dc;_ylt=AkGYlgZGR8A3x84i9IEIm0gEtbAF
To me it only seems fair since obesity is now such a drain on medicare and medicaid, and obesity is the same sin as smoking or drinking alcohol.

(which I personally don't think that anything should be taxed "extra", but if you are going to make sin taxes, that should count for anything that could have a bad effect, Maybe next we should do a Curse tax for cd's!! And a fraud tax for religous donations!!

BS

And I do think it is comprable to the cigarette tax. Cigarettes are deadly, same as high fat content foods are. And same as second hand smoke is deadly, genetics work the same. A fat parent is much more apt to raise a fat kid than two skinny parents. This holds the same danger margin of error as the second hand smoke does. Some kids are affected by it more-so than others. I believe all sin taxes are ridiculous because there is always a good and a bad aspect to everything. And I am not condoning smoking, however the add campaigns against it definitely use skewed facts. Like second hand smoke is 3x more deadly than first hand. They don't tell you that they got that fact is only true if you are breathing Directly from the tip of a cigarette. That is just like smoking first hand only without a filter. Like there are not better facts to use. But they use skewed facts to persecute a minority and make it more of a sin than it already is. Example,

example, a non-smoker who votes for an outdoor smoking ban and vote to raise taxes on smoking, will be driving past a building in thier suv saying "look at the dirty people smoking there ruining my lungs." If we put the non-smoker in a closed garage with thier started suv, which just drove past the smokers, and put the smokers in a closed garage with a carton of cigarettes, Who would die? Which person is hurting other people more? Same answer.

And let me reinstate I AM VERY MUCH SO AGAINST SIN TAXES I just feel that if we are going to have sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol, we might as well make it fair and do fatty foods the same way. Then people would start to vote against them if they persecuted more than a minority.

And Chris, I do agree with your point, but maybe you should read the whole question and details before answering.

Answer 1

Not all overweight people are at greater risk for disease. This is a myth. You can be overweight and perfectly healthy. There are other factors that are more important when determining someone's overall health than their waistline. Furthermore, you mention that overweight parents have overweight kids. That's not necessarily because the parent ate poorly. Metabolism has just as much of an impact on a person's weight as does their diet. Fat parents have fat kids because they are genetically predisposed to weight gain. This used to be beneficial to the species before food became so abundant.

I'm with you on the smoking issue. People should be allowed to smoke on private property. If you don't like it then go some place that is non-smoking. Can't find one? Then open one yourself and ban smoking if you want to. This isn't about public health, it's about regulation and control. Not all exposure to second hand smoke is bad. It only does damage over a very long period of time.

Answer 2

because of the fact the legislature contributors will desire a share of the recent tax money for his or her puppy projects and as in many situations occurring,little or no of the money will decide for the objective for which it became into meant. merely look on the settlements between the states and the tobacco industry. The states began getting the money and rather much none of it went to the main cancers sufferers or the different issues it became into meant to,the lawmakers began combating over it and wanted the money to bypass into generic sales. as properly,the tax would be exceeded directly to the patron in this variety of better taxes and which will force up the sales tax receipts to the state,who will spend extra and develop taxes extra to maintain up with the spending rather of paying off their debt. The U.S. shape prohibits states from going into debt and that they must have a balanced budget each and every 3 hundred and sixty 5 days (in accordance to the U.S. shape I found out back in the highschool American government classification back in the 60's)!

Answer 3

Smoking and drinking are originally a choice. Eating is not. Many recent studies show that additives to a huge variety of processed foods are the root cause of the recent rapid increase in obesity. Not overeating as such, but the consumption of unknown ingredients in a diet that is not in itself excessive. So it is much more complicated than simply taxing the user.

I do agree that food producers should be held just as accountable as tobacco producers and alcohol producers. The difference is that smokers and drinkers know their consumption is harmful. Not many people who eat processed foods are aware of the danger.

Answer 4

i agree obesity contributes to major diseases,but why can't medical insurance cover this.when an obese person has a heart attack or stroke,they have by-pass surgery for the heart.some times strokes require an extended hospital stay.why can't we help them? i don't believe a "fat" tax is going to take care of obesity.the cigarette tax didn't stop smokers.why can't the obese get insured medical help? i think that there is medication to treat most of the other diseases,and i believe they could come up with something to treat the obese. nobody wants to be obese.medical conditions and medication for other diseases can cause obesity.some people are plain lazy and don't care,but we need to help the ones who want help,before they become a burden on medicare or medicaid

Answer 5

So, since people aren't doing what's good for themselves let's tax them into doing so, is something you advocate? So, let's CONTROL the people by manipulating taxes. Doesn't this sound a bit like a slow progression to Socialism and then Communism?

Answer 6

Obesity doesn't cause "second-hand" fatness. Nor can I get cancer and die from standing near someone who is overweight. I believe what you say is irrelevant to what your comparing it to.

I believe its like gas...people will pay exceeding amounts of money no matter what. Just as people continue to buy cigarettes.

Answer 7

you bet ye.