US: Need for a tax to stop Fattys in their tracks!

[benyl]

HAHA, fat tax.

They need to tax gasoline more too... it is the only way to get off the dependence on foreign oil.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/18/paterson.obesity/index.html

# Gov. David Paterson: At one time, most American men smoked cigarettes
# He says higher cigarette taxes helped drive down the number of smokers
# Paterson says obesity causes major health problems and billions in costs
# A surcharge on soft drinks is a small price to pay for children's health, he says

[FivE.SeveN]

Sure why not? :dunno: They cant seem to stop stuffing their faces anyway. At the very least the state will get some extra cash out of it.

[Mckenzie]

I agree. Taxes need to be levied on goods consumption of things that are bad for society / environment. Those are the only things that will encourage behavoir change.

[camper3]

FAT FUCKS

Americans are disgusting. There are a good number who are decent and healthy but more are fat rednecks. :barf:

[A790]

Remember how everyone had to go to gym class in high school? I think people should be forced to work out at least twice a week.

[camper3]

Original Post Removed. (Please read the Forum Rules and Terms of Use (http://forums.beyond.ca/articles.php?action=data&item=1) before posting again, or risk getting banned).

[Mckenzie]

Originally posted by A790
Remember how everyone had to go to gym class in high school? I think people should be forced to work out at least twice a week.

Although I agree, the problem is systematic

-fast food / everything quick culture
-large portions
-lack of proper diet information (exercise really has little to do with weight gain....90% is diet control)
-excessive food advertising
-highly processed foods
-wealthy nation = more money for food (there is proven correlation between income and overwieght)

etc
etc

[camper3]

Original Post Removed. (Please read the Forum Rules and Terms of Use (http://forums.beyond.ca/articles.php?action=data&item=1) before posting again, or risk getting banned).

[Rocky]

Don't tax fattening products; that punishes all of us who know what "moderation" means. Tax fat people.

[msommers]

^^The tax wouldn't be high enough for you to care for the few times you'd end up paying it. Curbing people via taxation who dine on McDicks and drink pop everyday are the target audience, so I really see no problem.

The problems of our society and consequence obesity have been laid out quite well by Mckenzie. The only thing missing is that, when you go to the grocery store, you still have to be careful of what you buy even if you think it's healthy! Tons of shit has hydrogenated oils, high sodium and sugar content, you really gotta watch out. Diet is only half the battle and really, if there isn't some incentive (I'm thinking money) for lazy fucks to exercise, they won't.

[kertejud2]

But but but....having private healthcare means people will take their health into their own hands and be healthier. :nut:


I'd be for such a tax if I thought it would work or be fair to implement. It would just be a pain in the ass for everybody, something does need to be done, but I don't think a food tax would even start to solve the problem, it would only make it seem like something is being done.

I'd also be against taxing fat people, it would also be a pain in the ass to implement and it would be tough to gauge acceptable levels. Do you use BMI, which is unfair to those with a large lean muscle mass, or go by fat percentage, which would mean everybody needs to go through tests, which means bureaucracy, tax dollars and a strain on infrastructure. Plus I'd be wary about people going through dangerous diets/extreme measures to ensure they aren't in the taxable weight class.


In short, continue to educate people on why being fat is bad, provide knowledge on how to get them not as fat, provide the means to do so. We could ban everything that doesn't meet a certain healthy stuff to non-healthy stuff ratio, get rid of the bad red meats, the sugary and salty snacks, dairy products etc. But that doesn't seem all that good for everybody does it?

[msommers]

Originally posted by kertejud2
In short, continue to educate people on why being fat is bad, provide knowledge on how to get them not as fat, provide the means to do so.

I know what you're getting at, but it would naive to think that people don't know these things already; the tools and knowledge are already available. It's like constantly telling smokers how horrible their habit because of (insert plethora of health problems) but that still won't stop them. I think one of the big reasons why many smokers stopped smoking is because it was getting too expensive, not because they were very serious about getting healthy. By no means do I want to imply that is the case for all ex-smokers but I think the added cost outweighed the will for better health.

[3g4u]

I say forget the soda tax and just start making it very difficult for fat people, we can start by charging them 2 tickets again on airplanes, make them pey double for everything (movies, planes, bus, etc...) This will make people not become fat i guarantee it, basically make them second class citizens and then the future gernerations will not want this type of discrimination thus not becoming fat. Worked with cigarettes.

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by msommers


I know what you're getting at, but it would naive to think that people don't know these things already; the tools and knowledge are already available. It's like constantly telling smokers how horrible their habit because of (insert plethora of health problems) but that still won't stop them. I think one of the big reasons why many smokers stopped smoking is because it was getting too expensive, not because they were very serious about getting healthy. By no means do I want to imply that is the case for all ex-smokers but I think the added cost outweighed the will for better health.
I'm not saying it will really work, but there really isn't an effective way to punish the fat like smokers without punishing everybody else as well, as well as making it cost effective to boot.

Cigarette taxes punish smokers, food tax punishes anybody who wants to buy the food. We will either have to spend lots of public money just to get the taxes to make up for the tests, or we would have to tax everybody on food.

People still smoke, and people will still be fat, but there aren't too many ways to tackle the problem without punishing the innocent (for lack of a better term).