Waist banned - Does a tax on junk food make sense?

Economist ^ | July 30 2009

[swarthyguy]

A more direct, though controversial, approach would simply be to tax people on the basis of their weight.

This is my preference. Fat people make seats wear out faster, take up more space, and simply use more resources in their arc upon this mortal coil.

Use more, pay more.

[swarthyguy]

Smoking increases the risk of cancer for those in the vicinity of the smoker;

Oh yessirree, people used to keel over and die right dead in front of you in bars back in the 20th Century. And people around 'em kept on smoking.

Even the Economist seems to have bought that shibboleth.

[gwilhelm56]

Under WHAT CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY???

[gwilhelm56]

**Even the Economist seems to have bought that shibboleth.**

And they prove that Goebbels was right.. 45 years worth of PROPOGANDA has been known to turn Good Conservatives into FLAMING LIBERALS .. just by mentioning the word TOBACCO.

[dangerdoc]

Frito-Lay is one of the few companies in our town that is actually hiring. Sure let’s have Obama shoot them in the head too.

So why do you favor sending Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Waxman et. al. more money?

[swarthyguy]

Constitution Shmonstitution.

It’s for your health, bucko!

We cannot have a modern society where some romantic 18th Century notion of individual rights, liberty and use of property, not to mention freedom to associate and assemble are superior to the demands of health, public health requres subordination of the ideas of deadwhite men to the collective good.

If the Collective is healthy, then the individual, whether he understands or appreciates it, is not only happy but far more importantly, healthy.

The personal is political, and the Collective is an individual entity.

[1000 silverlings]

poor people sometimes don’t even have grocery stores in their communities, so they buy junk food. So tax them even more, yes that’s the ticket

[swarthyguy]

If this type of legislation or ordnances and diktats save the life of just one fat brat, it’ll be worth it.

[GeronL]

If they paid for the seat belt, then its none of the governments business. If they paid for the food, then its none of the governments business.

Use more resources? Then they probably paid for them already.

You sound like a lefty who thinks the US must pay for the fact we use more resources than other countries.

[swarthyguy]

They ain’t conservatives no more, if they ever were, just statists in drag.

They prolly cheered when Hillary banned it in the WH.

[gwilhelm56]

EFF YOUR COMMUNITY ... and the HIGH HORSE that dragged your worthless *** in here.

And the COLLECTIVE CAN KISS MY ***

didn’t see no /sarc

[Seruzawa]

More looter/moocher crap from a looter/moocher nation.

[MozarkDawg]

Not EVERY person who puts a chip in his mouth or drinks a regular soda or eats a Twinkie gains weight, becomes obese. It is absolutely contrary to the principle of this nation to charge a tax on people because of the effect of a substance on others.

I have an idea, instead of trying to come up with more ways to confiscate the hard-earned from the citizenry, how 'bout Congress STOP SPENDING THE MONEY ON JUNK?!!

[coconutt2000]

I think swarthyguy is on a sarcasm binge.

[vpintheak]

Well I think we should all eat government produced protien mush.

[GeronL]

poor people sometimes don’t even have grocery stores in their communities

I have been poor all my life and I have always lived a grocery store. I cn't find a community that doesn't have a Wal-Mart. Even in downtown Dallas where nobody lives the city subsidized a grocery store. Its stupid.

[married21]

Fat people make seats wear out faster, take up more space, and simply use more resources in their arc upon this mortal coil.
________________
1. On the other hand, fat people die sooner, so they are skipping a few years of resource use. Also, the fat people in my family tend to be workaholics in addition to food-aholics. The tax money they are generating with their high productivity in the workplace may “outweigh” the added health costs, I don’t know.

2. What’s “mortal coil”? Is that a literary analogy?

3. Silly me. At first I thought the theory being discussed was “Pigoutian”, not Pigouvian.

[swarthyguy]

Hey, make ‘em walk to the store, we’re depleting the supply of future used global warming hydrocarbon based personal transportation, and it’ll be good for them anyway.

[MEGoody]

Does a tax on junk food make sense?

Only to leftist loons.

[swarthyguy]

>>Silly me.

You said it.

But you have a very good first point.

So, if they die earlier like smokers, tax ‘em like smokers.

Who complains when smokers get taxed. No one.

So, if it worked for smokers let’s apply the same logic to overeaters. Eat less, pay less taxes. Simple.