Junto Boys

FAT TAX

It’s funny how the government can seize our freedom without any conspiracy or prior planning. Today on NPR, I heard a researcher talk about the danger of obesity. He did a study that showed that overweight people spend far more money on health care. Nobody is surprised. The other non-surprise is that he suggests a government solution, the need to regulate fatty foods.

Last year obesity cost the nation over 90 billion dollars, half of which was paid by the government in the form of programs like Medicare. Since it’s costing taxpayers so much money, it is now important that the government get involved and end the problem. Hilarious!

In the mid 90s, people at work were advocating the abolition of tobacco, because of the health cost involved. I opined that saturated fat causes heart disease too, and would they be for the abolition of Twinkees. First, they said they wouldn’t be for that abolition, and second they said that would never happen anyway.

Here is an example of how the government takes away our freedom by giving us something. When they advocated health solutions like Medicare it was to help people with no money. Eventually every senior citizen was forced onto Medicare. But money is a scarce commodity, so they have to ration care. So far the government has not forced individuals to give up habits that are more dangerous instead they pass laws to tax the dickens out of products they don’t like. It's not abolition, but it's certainly a restriction on freedom that could lead to abolition. The power to tax is the power to destroy as Andrew Jackson once said. The govt. already heavily taxes alcohol and tobacco, and it could soon over tax junk food.

Some people might think this is a good idea, but I don't know how using tax policy to dictate social policy is good for anyone, because it starts from the perspective that the government knows you better than you know yourself. The government acts with compassion, but their good deeds end with the young healthy people losing their freedom. The government creates demand as is Medicare and then uses it to regulate our behavior. People would no doubt be better off eating Broccoli at every meal, but did the founders fight the British so that the government could regulate their diets?