Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Should there be a 'fat tax'? Offering incentives for lifestyle choices likely to cut medical...
LA Times ^ | April 11, 2011 | Masthead Editorial

Posted on 04/11/2011 11:29:32 AM PDT by neverdem

Offering incentives for lifestyle choices likely to cut medical costs is an idea worth considering.

If an individual's body mass index isn't a purely personal matter, what is? We have the right to choose between healthy food or junk food, even if the latter is more likely to result in obesity and related health problems. But once our choices affect others, there's a natural conflict between individual freedom and social responsibility. In a nation where rising healthcare costs and diminished access to medical care are issues of grave concern, personal decisions are no longer strictly private. The treatment of obesity- and smoking-related disease is tremendously expensive, which in turns drives up health insurance premiums for everyone, as well as raising the costs for Medicaid, Medicare and health coverage for public employees.

These legitimate concerns have resulted in a raft of nanny-state proposals to shape the public's dietary habits by taxing this food or that drink or by outlawing free toys that accompany unhealthy children's meals at some restaurants. Such proposals raise inevitable questions of fairness and effectiveness. Does it make sense to tax a can of soda but not a fruit juice that contains more calories per cup and very little additional nutrition? Would a vitamin-fortified soda be exempt from the tax? And it's hard to figure out whether the bigger obesity culprit is a small order of fried chicken at a fast-foot outlet or a giant slab of prime rib at a pricey restaurant. Or, as many dietitians now think, maybe it's the carbs; has the time come for a public pasta tax? In any case, there is much uncertainty about whether such tactics would have any effect on the country's collective bulging belly.

We prefer the approach most recently proposed in Arizona, where officials hope to levy...

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fattax; health; healthinsurance; medicine
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-43 next last
How about getting rid of all of the subsidies for carbohydrates?
1 posted on 04/11/2011 11:29:41 AM PDT by neverdem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Hell no!

I can eat anything and as much as I want and don’t get fat!

Don’t tax me for being healthy!


2 posted on 04/11/2011 11:32:19 AM PDT by dalereed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Ridiculous. This nanny state political correctness crap must stop NOW. Let’s all help to bring an end to it once and for all!


3 posted on 04/11/2011 11:36:43 AM PDT by scorchedearther
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

First they came for the smoker’s money....but I was not a smoker...


4 posted on 04/11/2011 11:37:13 AM PDT by Crim (Palin / West '12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dalereed

Me too! I can eat anything & not gain, so tax them by weight not by what they buy to eat! Put those airline TSA agents to work, using scales!


5 posted on 04/11/2011 11:37:51 AM PDT by blondee123 (TRUMP=WINNING OBAMA=YOU'RE FIRED!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Outrageous.

Freedom and Liberty are have become merely names for hippie’s kids.


6 posted on 04/11/2011 11:39:32 AM PDT by Retired Greyhound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

How about a moron tax instead? Good grief. These statists have too much free time on their hands.


7 posted on 04/11/2011 11:41:18 AM PDT by mrmeyer ("When brute force is on the march, compromise is the red carpet." Ayn Rand)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

How about a male homosexual behavior tax?
That behavior costs the medical system more per individual than being fat.


8 posted on 04/11/2011 11:43:27 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

If the fat tax only applies to fat liberals I am OK with it.
Michael Moore can pay my share.


9 posted on 04/11/2011 11:44:51 AM PDT by forgotten man (forgotten man)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
Yes,

Will they also phase in a special tax for those practicing alternative lifestyles and far more prone to HIV, Hepatitis.......?

If the government/insurance is in the business of choosing the “best” way of behaving and taxing people according to the risk they pose shouldn't gays also be taxed?

Didn't think so......... Inconsistent liars that are simply looking for control/power and money. The rest is justifications based on contemporary trends in societies perceptions of certain behaviors i.e. society is willing to accept these taxes or restrictions on a specific group etc.

10 posted on 04/11/2011 11:44:51 AM PDT by Red6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Let me put this as clearly as is possible: they can f*** off and die. This is no different than taxing tea was to the colonies. Anyone who would roll over for anymore of this tyranny should also reference the statement above. The taxes on everything else that have been imposed over the years should be rolled back. In the Omaha area the democrat mayor is going for a tax on toilet paper because one of his other tax schemes was outlawed by the state legislature. They want to tax your intake and your exaust ports, they want to tax carbon dioxide emissions so they will cover breathing as well. They tax you for living and they tax you for dying. This has gone far enough. The democrat party has made itself king on the model of George III and we are becoming their tax slaves. We fought wars against the king and against slavery but obviously the job was not finished in either case.

FUBO & FAD


11 posted on 04/11/2011 11:45:03 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

First of all, the government has no business being involved, so I hope it is never posed as a tax.

Free market insurers should be free to charge people more or less in accordance with actuarial tables for health insurance that show more or less risk for people who are:

fat,
ugly,
redheaded,
stupid,
tall,
Norwegian,
Portuguese,
Asian,
African,
homosexual,
chess-playing,
motorcylce-riiding,
gun-owning,
sky-diving,
catholic,
etc.


12 posted on 04/11/2011 11:45:34 AM PDT by Notwithstanding
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blondee123

“Put those airline TSA agents to work, using scales!”

Put most of them on a diet, they are fat!


13 posted on 04/11/2011 11:47:57 AM PDT by dalereed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: RJS1950

I agree 100%...


14 posted on 04/11/2011 11:48:01 AM PDT by momtothree
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

sure, and why not a genetics tax, and a stupid tax, and an liable to accidents tax, and a dangerous occupation tax,....


15 posted on 04/11/2011 11:49:16 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain & proud of it: Truly Supporting the Troops means praying for their Victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

How about a sex tax instead? Tax all sex outside of marriage.
After all, sex can be a very unhealthy activity and can also lead to bastard children who have to be carried by the taxpayer.


16 posted on 04/11/2011 11:57:26 AM PDT by Little Ray (The Gods of the Copybook Heading, with terror and slaughter return!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

this idea’s only redeeming value is that it would take Michael Moore straight to the poorhouse...


17 posted on 04/11/2011 11:58:20 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
[LASlimes Art.] Offering incentives for lifestyle choices likely to cut medical costs is an idea worth considering.

Suuuure......legislate on everything ... the minutiae of life are what the Framers intended Congress to get around to eventually ..... ration food and water ... legislate proper breathing, with appropriate federal prison terms for improper breathing.

The spirit of totalitarianism breathes free at the L.A. Times.

18 posted on 04/11/2011 11:59:03 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

I first glanced quickly at the headline, and saw the words “FLAT TAX” and LA TIMES, and I thought hell had finally frozen over.


19 posted on 04/11/2011 12:03:18 PM PDT by PGR88 (I'm so open-minded my brains fell out)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

How about a higher tax on homosexuals, as their lifestyle choices lead to higher STD rates.
How about higher taxes on single moms since our prison system is overflowing with people who had no fathers in their lives?


20 posted on 04/11/2011 12:09:16 PM PDT by Maverick68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-43 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson