Fat Tax peoposed, You guys heard of this?

[Brown-Bear]

I was watching a snipit of the Rachel Ray show this afternoon and saw a piece on this "Fat Tax" that would generate funds towards govt run health programs aimed at the health and well being of the obese in this country.

What do you guys think of this? One person posed that if according to your physician or other healthcare provider that you are "Obese" then you have to pay a special income tax. Others suggested taxing the foods that contain unhealthy aditives like, whole milk, butter, sugar, candies, snacks chips and sodas and the like.

As a health care provider I can tell you that obesity is a very dangerous condition, that effects way too many people in America, perticularly children, but I don't see the govt as being the ones to fix it.

Here's a link to the comcast page that has a bunch of other sources on it.

http://http://search.comcast.net/?q=...=Web&con=betaa

Dave

[LittleRedToyota]

What do you guys think of this?

1. we should do away with tax-payer funded government run health programs.

2. private insurance companies should be allowed to rate people as a result of their own unhealthy choices (just as they can rate smokers) so the rest of us don't end up having to pay for the ramifications of those choices.

[melD]

Oh why the F' not? I already pay more than other share of taxes seeing as I make too much to get this credit or no dependents to get the credit.
Sure go ahead I can support more of the country on my "outlandish" mid $30k's income!!

Sorry, needed to vent again.

Hey the government knows what's best for you, you just don't realize it yet. They'll have special "camps" setup in the next few years to help us realize the error of our ways.

Mel

[jerkin]

Why not? They are going to fix Wall Street by raising our taxes and throwing 2 trillion of our money at it, fix crime by taxing ammo and taking our guns, fix tobacco induced diseases by taxing cigarettes and snuff. Why not tax fat people too? I say let them tax everything they can and maybe the morons in this country will realize what they just did.

[Robert Kayland]

As long as they institute the corresponding rebate or tax credit for bulimia, I have no problem with it.

[762xIan]

Or for people who like to go skiing, or mountain climbing, motorcycling, skateboarding, etc...

Tax every risky type of behavior there is dammit.

When will it end?

[knight0334]

I'll be for a fat tax the moment we;

1. start taxing stupidity
2. start taxing those who feel a need to meddle with other people's lives
3. start taxing those that annoy the shit out of me
4. start taxing whiners
5. start taxing those who exercise for using more oxygen than the average person standing still

[Robert Kayland]

I'll be for a fat tax the moment we;
5. start taxing those who exercise for using more oxygen than the average person standing still

As well as the carbon credit tax for expending greater amounts of CO2! Heck, that's a UN issue!

[PennsyPlinker]

If they institute a fat tax, I'll get the death penalty. Seriously, this stuff makes my blood boil. My cholesterol is way better than most skinny people I know. Same for my blood pressure (except when I read about government busybodies who want yet another tax!) All of the measures that indicate things like heart disease, diabetes, etc, are well within the norms for me, and some are so good my doctor just shakes his head in wonder.

If I was gay, it would be because I was "wired" that way. If I was a drunk - excuse me, alcoholic - it would be because of my genes. But as soon as it gets to fat people, all of a sudden we are lazy slobs, and it is behavior. It's not fat. It's organic body armor. A shot that would kill most of you skinny guys is just a flesh wound for me.

[Robert Kayland]

Can you get a deduction for merely being "big boned"?