Posted on 07/29/2009 5:16:17 AM PDT by shortstop
I told you so.
Years ago I said the next target was food.
In its tireless quest for power and money – done in the name of protecting you – the government has gobbled ever-larger chunks of the economy.
Tobacco, health care, communication, energy, banking, the automotive industry.
And now food.
A national soda-pop tax has been proposed, the Urban Institute wants to go after food producers and family budgets the way it went after tobacco companies and smokers, and food is about to be called a hazard to your health.
Ostensibly, because you’re fat.
Actually, because the government wants your money.
The one habit people can’t give up is eating. The one portion of the economy that truly controls the people is the food supply. In the past the government sought to protect it, now it wants to conquer it.
More correctly, now the government wants to conquer you.
And it will do so in the guise of protecting you.
As you may have noticed, Americans are fat. Some two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. It is a national shame. And it is a threat to our health.
But it is also a threat to our freedom.
Because when the activists point to the supposed $200 billion in annual health-care costs blamed on people being overweight, they are really just building a case to take away from you the ability to decide – or afford – what’s for dinner.
This is in the news because, in addition to the soda-pop tax, the Urban Institute has a new study out that calls for dramatic taxes on “unhealthy” foods.
Before we try to figure out what “unhealthy” is, let’s figure out what the Urban Institute is. Basically, it’s the government. It was founded by the government and is funded by the government – 62 percent of its budget comes from the feds – and since the days when Lyndon Johnson got it rolling, it has been a steady apologist for and advocate of socialist, big-government programs.
And it says food should be treated like tobacco. Producers should be taxed or sued into massive revenue-sharing agreements, and consumers should be heavily taxed.
The theory is that people who produce or eat food are bad, that they are the cause of the obesity epidemic and they must be forced to pay. The problem is that they are us. While a minority of people smoke, a majority of people eat.
And that’s a good thing.
So is the system of producer, processor and distributor that takes the tiniest fraction of our population and from its agricultural productivity feeds not only our country but also millions of foreigners. Astoundingly, we are being trained in this society to bite the hand that feeds us, to resent the farmer as a polluter and barbarian, somehow cruel to both the environment and livestock.
We have been taught phrases of contempt – like “factory farm” and “big agra” – and the prejudice against our food supply is palpable. We have been conned into hating something we don’t know the first thing about. Large processing companies – that feed countless people here and abroad – are not thanked for their efficiency and productivity, but are castigated and condemned.Then there are the folks who eat.
In the thinking of this report and its supporters, the free-will choices of Americans on something as elemental as what they eat or drink should be done away with. In order to get Americans to eat what and how much the all-powerful activists want them to eat, high taxes on “fattening” foods are being pushed.
The problem – beyond the tyranny – is that there is no such thing as a “fattening” food. It doesn’t really matter what you eat, it matters how much you eat and how much you exercise.
All food contains calories – little units of energy. In partnership with your level of physical activity, the number of calories your body takes in determines whether or not you gain weight. Twinkies are fine, depending on how many you eat. Fruit can be loaded with calories and an all-fruit diet – involving being idle and eating to excess – can make you just as fat as anything else.
If soda pop is bad for you, what about ice cream? Or chocolate? Or beef? Or cheese? Or eggs? Or pancakes and syrup? Or whole-wheat bread? Every one of those things has the innate capacity to contain at least as many calories as soda pop.
So where does the taxing start?
That question can’t be answered.
So the objective becomes: Making sure this tax never starts.
The groundwork now being laid for this government raid on the food industry and on our family grocery budgets must be pounded back into the hole it dripped out of. Activists talk about the cost of obesity and how this money could fund health-care reform and how people need to be protected from themselves. They feel empowered by the current regime in Washington.
But they must not be allowed to take control of the food supply. They are about to try a money and power grab, and in so doing will interfere with our ability to feed our children.
And that’s not a matter of convenience or philosophy, it is a matter of survival.
I told you so.
They’re coming after food.
And we’ve got to stop them in their tracks.
Who really needs definitions and guidelines? The parking lot at just about any WalMart tells the entire story. True, there are places in Colorado, Montana and other like places, where the majority of folks are slim. Anywhere else, especially in high-minority populations and the South, more than half of the people are overweight. One does not need official definitions, you only need eyes.
In order to legislate laws, there must be legal definitions for the variety of terms to describe the condition.
Soylent Green, the taste sensation that’s sweeping the nation!
In the history of Soylent Corporation, we’ve never had anything like Soylent Green! Our scientists have outdone themselves, combining the nutrition of our classic Soylent products with a new, fresh taste like nothing you’ve ever tried before! Come taste what everyone is talking about, the amazing Soylent Green!
Because of excessive demand for Soylent Green, it will only be made available to the general public on Tuesdays. We at Soylent Corporation apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Hopefully, this will only be a temporary situation until we can get more factories up and running to meet demand. Until then, remember: Tuesday is Soylent Green day! Don’t be late!
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Didn’t someone warn me about this?
Doubleplus ungood.
HAHAHA! When I move to my acreage in Kentucky, I’ll have a large garden and my own beef (actually, I already do) and, if necessary, I’ll create my own Copperhead Road.
I don’t think anyone needs a soda ever.
It amazes me that farmers in Iowa have so much apparent power. We have HFCS which is bad for us. We have ethanol from corn which lowers fuel economy. Seems strange to me.
On the other hand, sugarcane is better in soft drinks and sugar is more efficient as fuel. Just weird.
Same here.
Well, that’s true. I fear they’re going to do it in the frog-in-the-pot way, though, so that people don’t get angry enough or united enough until it’s too late. Just a little bit more socialism and oppression at a time...
It sure seems that way. I wake up at night worrying about it sometimes.
“Didn’t someone warn me about this?”
Well, I for one welcome our Soylent Corporation overlords
I haven’t done that yet, but I did get something in an e-mail from Rick Joyner who has apparently read the healthcare bill and you can’t believe what’s in it. It scares the crap outta me. They will have access to your accounts and almost everything else. I wrote John McHugh and begged him (nicely) not to vote yes.
ping
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.