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NY Bill Proposes Fat Tax On Games, DVDs, Junk Food
eldavojohn writes "GamePolitics is writing about a proposal to tax things that make your kids fat. The logic from its author: 'Almost all experts agree that the primary reasons [for the obesity epidemic] are increased consumption of larger quantities of high calorie foods, snacks and sugar sweetened beverages... and lack of physical activity as vigorous play is replaced by sedentary activities such as watching more television, movies and videos and playing video games. This bill would raise revenues from modest surcharges on the very food products and sedentary activities that are linked to the lifestyle changes involved in the explosion of childhood obesity in the last 20-30 years.' Not as explicit as Japan's fat tax but we're getting there."
People with office jobs should have to pay this tax. They sit on their ass all day. Why should a construction worker, a whorehouse picker, or any other manual labour have to support office workers' sedentary lifestyle?
Got a letter from my company's health insurance yesterday.
"Health care premiums will increase as a direct result of the State Legislature approving the Governor's proposed increases in taxes, fees and assessments on your health benefits on February 4, as part of his Deficit Reduction Plan."
So they're taxing both ends.
It isn't a worthy cause. They are just looking for another way to squeeze even more out of us. NY already has some of the highest taxes in the country. I think by calling it a fat tax they hope to make it seem less egregious. What they need to do is make serious budget cuts. Cut back on the state government. Unfortunately, the special interests groups are going to keep fighting for their piece of the budget when someone wants to cut it.
That, and what about games designed around doing a lot of work, motion, etc, such as Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)? People have been able to use these games as a way to make working out fun. Does that mean you'll get a tax rebate on these games and the controllers necessary for them?
OCO is Loco
How about lowing (or even removing) taxesd on things that are likely to help keep you fit. Sporting equip, health foods, etc.
Oh thats right the greedy fucks don't get any money from that.
I mean, there HAVE been studies that show the obesity levels began rising at the same time that High Fructose Corn Syrup started to infiltrate all of our foods.
I mean do they REALLY need to add HFCS to Tomato Sauces, Soups, etc. ?
The best thing lately has been the return to sugar as a sweetener. Pepsi Throwback is one great example (its much less sweet than regular pepsi - and I'm a Coke drinker primarily).
UPS Sucks
And I say, let them eat cake.
The government has gone so far out to control our lives with taxes on things people disapprove of it isn't funny.
It will only get better once the government has gone so far out of whack that it micromanages every aspect of our lives. Only then will there be enough pushback
People want free health care, people want free this, that, and the other thing.
and they will find enough people who will feel it is OK to tax X because said people don't like X. The problem is that group will get whacked by people who don't like Y.
A VAT by any other name.
The stuff has to be paid for. The fastest way to keep people dependent on the government and keep people poor is to make it easy to be dependent and poor.
I know people who would cheer those gamers being taxed, I have vegan friends who would have a parade for fatties to pay more tax...
it never ends... too many people take enjoyment by having others punished. Most get bent when it occurs because of "religious" reasons but honestly does it matter when it comes down to it?
Democracies always have problems when people finally figure out they can vote themselves other peoples money, its worse when elected officials realize it works to keep them in office. Its even worse when a sitting President uses the bully pulpit to stomp on contract law and intimidate lawful holders of guaranteed debt to give it up.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Believe it or not, the British NHS recently did an analysis and determined that smokers and the obese cost the system less money than healthy people. The reason being that these people tended to die early, before the complications and cost associated with old age set in.
The problem that's unique to the US is that government corn subsidies makes corn cheaper than anything else. So manufacturers use high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar as sweetener.
HFCS is not only a sugar substitute, it also gets put into things that wouldn't otherwise be sweetened if you had to pay the full cost of sugar to sweeten it.
How about the US government stop subsidising corn?
Does my bum look big in this?
Those "additional costs" are an article of faith, and not the proven thing most people seem to assume.
When studies have been done, it's turned out that people who live unhealthy lifestyles generally cost a society less overall because they tend to actually die of their health problems. The tofu-eaters, on the other hand, live longer, and accrue more costs.
Paying lung cancer care for a smoker who lives 12 months after his diagnosis is cheap compared to paying medicare, social security, and eventual hospital costs for someone who lives much longer.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Hey, what kind of bandwidth do you get in your militia bunker? Mine sucks, but it's probably because I shot the cable guy because he looked like CIA.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
That's why you smother it in peanut butter, which comes from the ground.
DOUBLE HEALTHY!
The only thing that would discourage the use of cars in the US is populating the country as densely as Europe and slapping down some mass transit lines all over it.
mmmm...forbidden donut
I agree, this is NOT a worthy cause. Who are they to say who's fat? And if I'm not fat, who are they to say I have to pay because other people are fat, lazy, and unmotivated to help themselves? Some people don't give a shit that they're fat. If it's genetic or something, insurance will cover it. But don't make me pay more taxes. This isn't going to do jack crap to make people thinner. And if they're going to make anyone pay, they should make fat people pay the fat tax, since they are the ones that need the motivation to lose weight.
Once again, the government thinking they know what's best for us... morons.
And one more thing... a very important thing. This has NOTHING to do with getting people off their lazy asses and losing weight. It's just another way for the government to tax us. More money for them to piss away on stupid programs that do nothing and political agendas. You want more money..? Cut programs that are failing. There are plenty of them.
Bite my shiny metal ass!
I think this is a fallacy, but maybe the prices where I live are quite different. Here, a bag of whole carrots is about $1.20, while a bag of Doritos or other chips is 99 cents. By both weight and density of nutrition, the carrots are hugely cheaper than Doritos. Or say, chicken here is often around $3 or $4 a pound, again both by weight and nutrition density a far better deal than what you would get for 3 or 4 bags of chips. Are veges really super expensive where you live compared to say chips and soda, or is it that people are forgetting how to cook and not stepping up to the plate (har) when it comes to their children's health?
Surely that's not the comparison.
The lean meat cuts are significantly more expensive than the 30% fat mince. Pasta is cheaper than vegetables. Soda is cheaper than juice.
Not entirely true.
While it's true that it's easier to get good quality ingredients and healthier pre-packaged foods if you have the money for it, what causes obesity isn't so much the lower quality of food available for the money, but the choices people make on what to spend their money on.
For instance, yes, a hamburger in a real restaurant is better, healthier, and more expensive than a hamburger at McDonald's. But you can buy raw hamburger and cook it at home, and make it tastier, healthier, and far cheaper than you can get at McDonald's.
The boxed Macaroni and Cheese you get at Whole Foods is indeed better for you than Kraft, but costs three times as much. Less than half the price of Kraft, though, is buying the ingredients and making it yourself. Better tasting, cheaper, and less fattening.
Vegetables at your average farmers market cost about half of what they do in a grocery store, and are fresher and better tasting.
I could go on. Yes, the rich will always have more options than the poor. But with a little bit of research, effort, and practice, people can eat far healthier for even less money than the average American is doing now.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
At least I have 2 Senators.
This tax, especially on foods and drinks that can kill you if not used in extreme moderation (apparently they aren't) is for the same reasons, no?
So, look, if you're gonna bitch about these (and I'm sure new creative behavior modification taxes in the future), then complain in general about using any tax to try to modify behavior. They should not use the threat of tax to promote good or curb 'bad' behaviors if you are an adult.
What do you bet that in a future in the US, if you have a national medical system, with computerized national records, that can easily be tied to other systems out there that collect info on you (like with grocery store purchases? Drug stores? Liquor stores?) that you are charged and taxed based on your health risk behaviors? Don't think they'll do it?
Did you think they'd ever even consider taxing you a 'sin' tax for buying a soda pop??? Me neither...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
They justifiy the 'sin' taxes, especially on cigarettes...because of the health risks, and hope it is an incentive to quit.
Am I the only one that notices that 'sin' taxes designed, ostensibly, as a deterent are counter productive. For example:
1. Tax Cigaretts to pay for Medicare/Medcaid
2. People cut back on cigarette purchases
3. Revinue goes down from 'sin' taxes
4. Budget shortfalls lead to further increases in 'sin' taxes
5. Rinse and repeat until consuption rate drops to the point where 'sin' taxes are incapable of generating sufficent revenue to feed the Governments need for more spending.
6. Find new 'sin' (in this case obesity).
7. Rinse and repeat all over again.
The problem with the 'sin' taxes, or the 'fat' tax is that it's used more to generate money and prevent spending cuts, than to actually improve anyones health. If the government does end up decreasing the undesirable consumption (tobacco, alcohol, gasoline, sweets, video games, movies, etc.), they end up running out of money to fund their pet projects. If these kinds of taxes were actually designed to do what they claim, then there would be mechanisms included to decrease funding of the relevant programs as consumption goes down.
It's all Nanny State BS, wrapped up in the guise of the Public Good. I'm going to become a parent in August, and I'll do what my parents did. Once our children get to the age where this kind of sedentary activity is a concern, I'll kick them outside when it's nice, and not let them back into the house until meal time. I'll keep high calorie foods as a treat of last resort, and limit TV, video games, etc. to an hour or two a night.
If you feel like you need the government to make sweets and video games more expensive to prevent you from giving them to your kids in excessive ammounts, please do the rest of us a favor. DON'T BREED. If you already have, please drop your kids off at the nearest adoption agency and go get yourself a tubal ligation/vasectomy. YOU are the parent. Act like it. Tell you child "NO", and then stick to your guns. Let them throw temper tantrums, they'll cry themselves out eventually. I know that I always did. If you dont' have the patience, then take them home and whip their ass. That worked just as well in my experience.
Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.-Oscar Wilde