I'd like to say that our Constitution is capable of being modified. If it can be changed, then it can change on this issue as well.
No, no way. I do not need the state or government in general to tell me what I can or cannot eat or how much. It i not illegal to kill one's self but don't let us catch you eating McDonald's, lol.
We need the government to stop trying to force people to live the way they see fit. Has to do with the whole "pursuit of happiness" thing.
What is the point of pursuing your own legal interests when the government makes it even more costly!
I feel that if the problem begins to get well out of control, as seen in 2/3 of all U.S. adults being obese, then I thnk drastic measures need to take place. If not, what are you going to do when the obesity rates reach 80% or higher? There needs to be a point where we the American people say enough is enough, and start taking to task these people who lack the ability to control themselves. You're a taxpayer. As of this very moment your taxes are higher than they would be if these fat people controlled themselves. If the obesity epidemic festers and grows, your taxes will increase, I think. Automobiles and gas prices as linked to in the OP have gone up significantly. There are articles on how these obese people place a larger fuel burden on airlines. Insurance iirc is affected for all based on the unhealthy lifestyles of these people.
Think of your children. Will you be there to effectively prevent them from becoming obese? 1/4 of all children now are obese. That will increase years from now.
The government should have every right to sever the growing tumor on its back. It should be able to enforce some sort of regulation, some sort of tax, anything, anthing, to reign in this metastasizing problem.
1) Oh sure...make prices of things even more expensive. :roll: If you tax one thing then corporations will just find an excuse to raise the prices on other things. Or will just do it incrementally so people don't notice.
2) Why?
3) Are you trying to suggest that people have no choice in what they eat?
4) I do support the rights of others...whether you consider them "bad" rights is just opinion. I also support the cost of those rights.
1) Increase the prices of truly unhealthy foods like fried chicken, doughnuts, eclairs, onion rings, etc. While corporations would likely raise the prices on other things, it really depends. I doubt Wal-Mart would increase the prices of vegetables like celeray and carrots if their fatty foods like fried chicken were further taxed. Instead of taxing salt and sugar which would place a burden on all, instead, like a scalpel, target the truly bad pre-made foods.
2) I don't see why not. If we tax people for being overweight, our government will gain a lot of revenue, while also affecting to some extent the obesit epidiemic. To keep it real and fair people who are heavy due to acquired mucle mass should be excluded.
3) Not sure I said that. I'm saying corporations need to stop targetting and brainwashing our impressionable children. These corporations try to hook our little ones with childish cartoons for cereals loaded with sugar, fast food loaded with salt and fat, and many other foods of that nature. How many of you parents have had a child that suffered with a toothache? It's possible said corporations had some involvement in those results by influeincing your child into wanting those sweets, persistently wanting them and others, and then eating them and winding up with tooth decay among other things.
Personally I'd like to see soda, koolaid, and other nasty sweet beverages banned from the hands of young children up to the age of, hn, 12. Children don't need to be consuming soda and candy. It's not good for your health or your teeth. There was a documentary I've seen regarding children living in the Tennessee mountains that drank excess amounts of Mountain Dew. Their little teeth were nothing but
nubs. I WAS PISSED.
4) I don't support all rights. Rights are only a man-made hypothetical structure. Every day you people on the Right and Left seek to alter the rights of people. If rights can change, then this can change. I feel those who lift up the rights of those to condemn themselves to obesity-related deaths should also take more responsibility in paying through taxes the medical costs associated through obesity. It is the height of evil imo with one side of your mouth praising a person's right to kill themselves, and yet with the other saying that you will do nothing while that erson suffers and eventually dies.
I read through the posts and I believe the war on obesity will fail, or have no great impact. Smoking was controlled only by cost, taxing it till it was unaffordable for many, thats why it was effective in reducing the amount of smokers considerably.
You cant tax through the roof all fattening foods...EVERYTHING makes you fat if you eat too much of it....this utter sillyness of banning 64oz soda and soda in machines in school not going to reduce the obesity epidemic one bit...you tax McDs through the roof...you still have burger king wendys arbies and the colonel popeyes that all peddle mostly ****...
You can try and educated kids starting in elementary school but what good is that if mommy and daddy feed them garbage everyday.
Its a noble endeavor and I would really hope it could work...but I dont see it working much at all
You may think that if you want. Perhaps truly unhealthy foods should have their prices raised immensely. That, and
exclude them from government food programs like FoodShare and Food Stamps. My mother told me a few days ago that the cost of a pack of cigarettes in WI is at $8. Great. Awesome! Jack it up further and do the same to alcohol. Do it with truly unhealthy foods like fried chicken as well. I'm so sick and tired of seeing obese parents with their poor children also being obese. There is no reason for that. Parents should be prosecuted for letting their young children become obese imo.
Wrong. You
can tax through the roof all truly fattening premade foods that obese people swarm to. And
no, not everything makes you fat if you eat too much of it. That's an outrageous lie and quite frankly I'd like to smack whoever originated that lie with a rolled-up newspaper. Foods like cauliflower only have about 35 calories in the whole delicious head. Carrots and celeray and other vegetables likewise have very few calories. You'd have to eat an immense, almost impossible amount of cauliflower to actually get fat/obese off of it.
The whole soda/Bloomberg mess is a sub-issue of the obesity epidemic. He enacted only part of what I'd like to see happen. Obviously there'd be outcry if he outright banned every deathly food out there. He should have banned refills and targetted milk shakes as well. Ban 32 oz sodas, and let people pay extra to try and circumvent the ban.
Mommy and Daddy need to wake up and educate their children. If they can't or won't then the government needs to make up for the loss of those parent's brain cells. It's that simple.
Something needs to give or something's going to break from the weight of this problem on our nation's economy and overally health.
I gotta ask these two questions.
Do people have the right to eat? Yes or no?
Do people have the right to choose so long as they do not infringe on other peoples rights? Yes or no?
Too simplistic.
I think people should have the right to eat healthy to moderately healthy foods. In my perfect world all deathly food would either be banned, or served in small, moderate sizes.
I'd say people are infringing on other's rights to the pursuit of happiness when they are weighed down by the taxes used to cover America's burgeoning healthcare costs stemmed in part by the obesity epidemic. We need to think about the future of our children, and that they will be at risk for obesity if we allow this problem to fester.