GM,
Now that the Democrats control absolutely everything in this country except local radio, it looks like there's an actual possibility that we'll see the day of federal fat taxes. Lucky folks like you and I had actual parents to limit our junk food intake, but, realizing that some have still not realized the dangers of excess calories, Uncle Sam may soon assume the role for the rest of the population. As I try to process this and determine which likely liberal motivation would aggravate me the most, I think of a few possibilities.
1. The social agenda to save the world from itself. I've heard the left utter phrases like "Some people don't know better" and "People of color are at higher risk for diabetes." While we're at it, why not institute a "didn't look both ways before crossing the street" tax? After all, it's dangerous, and if the citizen-appointed, self-expanded federal government can't guide us as individuals to common sense, who can?
2. To add fairness to the system. This is clearly the most noble. Perhaps some liberal is out there thinking, "Of course we need to socialize health care, but if we do, we better make sure the sicker people pay more." This can't be the primary reason for wanting a fat tax, can it? I thought the left preferred equality to fairness, so what's the point of socializing health care if we're going to hold people personally accountable for their actions?!
3. To raise $522 billion to "help offset the cost of Obamacare." Now here's a liberal agenda I can believe. Make up for unwarranted spending with unfair taxing.
Some are suggesting that companies, rather than consumers, pay a tax for producing fatty foods, which is even more offensive to any supporter of the free market. But regardless of who pays the initial tax, the cost will be split between the producer and the consumer, with the ratio depending on the steepness of the demand curve. To simplify, McDonald's will definitely effectively pass some of the tax onto the patron if it is taxed for making Big Macs. If it turns out, though, that Big Macs are like gasoline and will be demanded regardless of the price, it will pass almost all of that tax onto the consumer. It works the other way around too, assuming the feds tax consumption. This means people who were smart enough to take advantage of this nation's discipline problem won't be printing money anymore, and that's an
-JW
JW,
I'm torn between so many avenues of disgust, I hardly know where to begin. Yes, this nation is morbidly obese (see Mart, Wal), but just as laws can't make us moral, so taxes can't make us thin. We hear a lot about poverty these days, but the fact of the matter is that Americans are still wealthy enough to live almost entirely on nicotine and lard. Tax us all you want, but we're not going to stop smoking or eating burgers.
Sadly, this means that a new tax on junk food is probably the least of our worries. The next step will be
While I could go on about this at some length, I'd like to turn my attention to the abject stupidity of the American citizenry. My goodness! As recent polls have made clear, Americans believe overwhelmingly that "the quality of their own care [will] decline if the government [creates] a program that covers everyone." Yet the 69% of respondents who answered thus are joined by the 55% who think that Obama's ideas on the subject are better than anyone else's. Do they not know what he believes?! Are they so resigned to getting screwed that they're supporting Obama's plans over some unwritten, devilish alternative? Or, as I suspect, are they simply unable to understand the correlation between ideas? Or the economic fact of scarcity?
As always, Americans want full plates, free healthcare, low taxes, and endless choice. I predict we end up with none of those things.
-GM
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