Posted on 07/11/2002 11:02:57 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
It seems like only yesterday when the Left was giddy over the enormous tobacco settlements that were lavished upon several of our states. The evils of smoking and its negative health aspects were plenty of reason to award former and current smokers millions of dollars over the course of the past several years. Now, the War on Tobacco is virtually over and the Left has seemingly won. Cigarette taxes have increased so much that a smoker now must pay over $7 per pack in our nation's largest city. If you thought that the era of a lack of personal responsibility would end in the tobacco fields, your thoughts were only wishful thinking. For the Left has a new target, food.
There is virtually no doubt that cigarette smoking has led to the deaths of thousands of individuals over the past few decades due to lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, etc. Of course, the Left managed to shift the blame for these deaths to the cigarette producers instead of the consumer. Never mind that most logical individuals could either cut back or quit smoking when they couldn't breathe without coughing or, in the case of a woman, when her voice sounded like one from a villain in an old western movie. A little common sense could have saved many lives.
The government prosecution of the major cigarette companies did nothing to reduce cigarette smoking in America. The conventional method by which smoking has been discouraged by our government has been by raising taxes on smokes. As any college student who has completed an introductory course in economics could tell you, raising taxes on cigarettes cannot decrease smoking by any significant amount. Demand for cigarettes is nearly inelastic, as it is for almost every drug. The desire for cigarettes far outweighs any price difference and the consumer will continue to purchase cigarettes regardless of any price increase.
The battle over fatty foods has begun in much the same way as that of the cigarette company crucifixion. Liberal publications such as 'The Nation' have condemned the fatty food marketers and have helped to ignite the campaign to slap taxes on fatty foods. Liberals hope that the fatty food 'sin tax' will help to drive Americans from a Quarter Pounder to a grilled chicken sandwich.
An abundance of evidence shows that Americans are becoming more obese. The think tank, RAND, has stated that three of every five Americans are either obese or overweight. Obesity, according to RAND, actually leads to larger amounts of chronic health conditions and significantly higher health expenditures than smoking or heavy drinking. If this research continues to be confirmed, fatty foods could potentially become an even more politically lucrative issue for the Left and help to stuff the pockets of one of the Left's most supportive groups, trial lawyers. A lawsuit against McDonalds from the family of a man who died from heart disease and ate at a Big Mac every day may soon become a reality.
This likely upcoming assault on fatty foods is yet another example of the Left's attempt to micromanage the lives of Americans. The Left is simply stating, "You are too stupid to decide for yourself what is healthy food. You are not smart enough to know that a Big Mac has more fat grams and is less healthy than a salad. Therefore, your federal government will take care of you and tax these inconsiderate producers of various fatty foods."
Lest you believe that this is just an issue that revolves around taking care of all Americans, it is actually slightly more complex. In its July 10 edition, the leftist magazine, "The Nation", interviewed fellow liberal and renowned author, Eric Schlosser. As you may know, Schlosser is the author of the best selling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. In the interview, Schlosser agrees with the magazine's premise that this supposed fatty food epidemic targets America's poor. He further states that this affects the poor to a greater extent because of a lack of proper medical care, accurate information and nutritional education. This is the key facet of the fatty food epidemic, for creating this issue is the latest attempt to lasso the poor under the broad arms of the Liberal Establishment.
The argument that this fatty food problem naturally affects the poor is ludicrous. Just because more poor people eat fatty food and are thereby more likely to suffer from heart disease and other ailments does not mean that this is a natural occurrence. A large majority of the poor can read and understand nutritional labels and have enough common sense to know that chicken has less fat than hamburger. These individuals who consume fatty foods in virtually every meal have made a choice. Chances are that many of these persons, though certainly not all, have made similar bad choices in the past and that is why many of them are in their current socioeconomic status.
Attempts are now being made to add a special 'fat tax' to all fatty foods in order to supposedly discourage consumption of these foods and to provide funding to combat diseases associated with a diet high in fatty foods. How a potential 'fat militia' will be formed and carry out a mission to define and tax all fatty foods has not been discussed.
Look for this issue to become more prominent in the coming months, as the Left will shift the focus to the diets of poor children and will lament the idea that these children are consuming far too much fat in their diets. Then, in typical liberal fashion, the "Save the Children" parade will begin much the same way it did when cries were heard regarding the school lunch program.
Maybe the government could create a series of restaurants that would provide healthy food. Imagine the flow of adults and especially children to such establishments as Tofu Bell, Kentucky Fried Cauliflower and Veggie Burger King.
They will tax the poor until they scream.
Face it, more people can find something wrong with crack cocaine than with aspirin, and more people can find something wrong with tobacco than with cheeseburgers.
Every person can find something wrong with government.
As absurd as the fatty-food tax is. An even more absurd, seemingly surreal, though very real problem overshadows it. It is the fact that many fats are beneficial to the human body while carbohydrates and especially complex carbohydrates like sugar and fructose reek havoc on the metabolism over the long term and are the real food culprits that lead to obesity.
What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie
Caffeine-alcohol-sugar free diet; low carbohydrate intake; high protein intake (read meat, milk, cheese, eggs and most dairy products some whole grains and vegetable fibers), gallon of water evenly spaced over the day; aerobic fitness of at least twenty minutes each day.
Deconstructed absurd and seemingly surreal, albeit very real problems that leech off Americans and their well being and prosperity. Predominantly, how and why politics is the problem, not the solution -- and what to do about it...
Congress Can't Fix Corporate America
The politicians are coming lock your portfolios
Exposing the failed psychology of
self-proclaimed environmental and political authorities
Oh well. At least it's cheaper. Might as well throw in a supersize fries.
Which will further contribute to "Global Warming". What will the bean-sprout eating lefties do then?
You might want to re-think that one.
You might want to re-think that one.
Thanks. Correction: complex concentrated carbohydrates. That done, I have researched and thought about it and tested my diet to my satisfaction. If the correction hasn't changed your suggestion, rather than mere suggesting that I might want to "re-think that one" perhaps you could explain why you suggest I do.
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