Tax the BS coming out of DC and we'd have a surplus.

Let's just tax all foods, that contain sugar and carbohydrates, fat or oil, protien or vitamins, then we will all be thin...and the government will be fat and happy

Is anyone starting to see a pattern here...tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, ..., ????

Government social engineering by any means, including taxation, is communism. To call it anything else is incorrect. The government and ruling class are quickly becoming dictators and there is no one to blame but the masses themselves. They vote for these controllers, they deserve what they get.

We should tax junk food.

If obesity was strictly an individual issue, then I'd say "who cares?" what junk food costs.

But obesity is a societal problem. Obese people use more health care, which drives up demand for care, and drives up costs for health care for the rest of us.

More obese people using up more health care resources causes the rest of us to pay more in health insurance premiums.

It's no coincidence that the fattest country on Earth also has the most expensive health care coverage.

Of course, you'll always have the conservative crowd who can't really think through issues and connect A to B, who think every problem will get fixed by the free market, and every tax is an evil socialist conspiracy from Satan, so, politically, we probably won't ever fix the problem, we'll just pass the problem on to our kids while it gets worse.

If a box of Twinkies and a 2-liter of pop cost 20 cents more, and that 20 cents is used to subsidize the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, we'll all be better off. If you really want your Twinkies & soda pop, go for it! It's still relatively cheap, but you do have to pay for the costs your obesity is putting on society.

Bull. Brought to us by the same folks that gave us global warming...

How many emails were deleted or censored for this study?

They lack credibility.

Whatever happened to freedom of choice, & self determination? We are moving SO quickly into the Nanny state that is so prevalent in Europe.

This is the USA, it was built by people who did what THEY wanted to, needed to, ensure their freedoms and rights and opened up this great nation to what is was before the bleeding heart liberals weaseled their way into the very structure of our society.

IF I want to be fat then that is my choice, if I want to ride my motorcycle with no helmet, that is my choice, it may be a dumb choice, but that is MY choice.

Now, as to the tax issue, this is no more than the money grubbing SOB's that WE have elected to office putting their filthy hands in our pockets. get over it that what happens.There is always the next election.

It about time WE as a population stood up and took back OUR rights and freedoms as written in the constitution...literally; our forefathers were clever men for their time and didn't hide secret meanings, they wanted it to be understood by simple people, so lets get the judiciary to understand that.

If we don't like what the politicians are doing, elect someone different, but it will mean getting off your lazy ass (fat if that's they way you want it) and votingfor the other guy, complaining after the event is a waste of breath: DO Something about it.

This will terrify politicians if WE THE PEOPLE vote in droves, the political scenery will change, big time, only WE THE PEOPLE can do this and unless we want a civil war, it has to be done via the ballot box.

Where does this end? There are so many high calorie, fatty foods. We would have to tax pretty much every fast food place and most of the frozen food section at the market. What about bakeries, all of them too. Donut shops, you can eat a couple donuts + an Iced coffee and have the fat and calories of a few slices of pizza + a huge soda, only difference is there are no nutrients! This is ridiculous to say the least.

There has to be a better approach to reducing obesity, other than making up the income gap from dwindling tax income, due to a poor economy and bad choices by the government.

Typical liberal dribble that continues to demonstrate the old axiom which states “A Liberal has never found a problem, real or imagined, that couldn’t be solved with another tax”.

Just read this idiotic article where they fantasize statistics to equate an 18% tax to a 5lb reduction which in their seedy little minds somehow translates to a 147 billion in reduced health care costs. The real goal is one of control.

P.S. Wanna bet they intend to include diet soda in their tax plan?

Whatever happened to freedom of choice, & self determination?

If your choices affect you alone, you are totally free to make whatever choices you want.

If your choices negatively affect other people, then you have to take responsibility for those choices, and that's where public policy steps in.

If a factory produces pollution that never spreads beyond its property or affects anyone's health, that factory can produce whatever it wants.

HOWEVER, if a factory produces pollution that spreads into lakes and rivers--that's where the "evil communist socialist nanny-state" government steps in and requires the factory to pay a tax to clean up the pollution that is affecting other peoples' health. The tax also encourages cleaner methods of production and discourages polluting in the first place.

If your obesity only affects you, then you should pay market prices for whatever garbage junk food you want to eat.

HOWEVER, if your obesity ends up costing other people lots & lots of money, then you are responsible for their losses.

That's the purpose of a junk food tax--making people pay the cost of their own bad choices, instead of shoving off the cost onto other people. If you're going to demand thousands of dollars in health care for your diabetes because you drank soda pop every day, then instead of pushing those costs onto other people in your health insurance plan, you pay the costs for your own choices by paying a few cents in junk food tax for the pop you drink.

Being the fattest country in the world raises health care demand and health care costs for EVERYBODY--not just people who choose to eat junk food.

If you're paying thousands of dollars more than you should for health insurance, but you still see obesity as an individual issue, then you need to open your eyes.

Bottom line: If you support individuals paying the consequences for their own bad choices, you should support a junk food tax.

If you support society paying the consequences of individuals' bad choices, then you'll oppose a junk food tax.

I don't want the government in my bedroom OR my refrigerator!

I can see now the entire health-care debate is a canard. It's all about MONEY and CONTROL.

You can have my Coke when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

If you try to take it while I'm alive, I'll bitch-slap you!

Carl W.,

Sir, my husband stands at 6'1'' and weighs in at 180 lbs. He is by no means overweight or obese, but frequently enjoys oily, fatty, disgusting foods. To tax junkfoods would negatively impact everyone, no matter their size! Who here hasn't indulged in junk food?

One of your posts stated that the healthcare costs were due, at least in part, by obesity. Obesity is a small amount actually. Most costs come from the fact that emergency rooms are not allowed BY LAW to refuse service to anyone, that illegals get FREE healthcare, and that the GREAT place we live in funds all sorts of research that allows our death rates to be GREATLY lower than other countries.

Coincidence? I think not.

We are getting closer to the new government taxing system.

"How much did you make? Send it in"

Studies show that "Diet soft drinks" causes people to eat more and become overweight.

so why not tax everything?

All of these taxes to "protect" US citizens are just wrong. Do not allow this to happen.

Do you really think that diet soda is much better for you?!

Is pizza worse than a Grinder with processed meats, loads of oil, processed cheese food? I doubt it. In Italy, people eat pizza all the time.........many places sell it by the slice in bakeries, room temperature. It's often thought of as a snack....................

"Why not an added "fat tax" on Hardees, McD's, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. for those 1000+ calorie burger meals??"

There are plenty of people advocating just that. MY question is this: If I should buy a pound of hamburger, some buns & frozen fries at the grocery store, will a "fat tax" be added to that, too?

I agree about this being a stupid idea. A tax is a tax, no matter how you cut it - A means of income, plain and simple!

gg-752859 - I agree about the tax on cig's not helping, I think the other factors: banning smoking in public places and education have been a far more effective means of reducing the smoking rate, which has been reduced from 20 years ago.

Optomyst - Pizza is made much differently in Italy than here. No matter what, if you have alot of bread, cheese and processed meats, it's unhealthy. High calories, carbs., sodium and fat is not a good combo!

Seems to me the Gov. taxes things when they don't have any good ideas on how to solve problems. Or it's a matter of being opportunistic, like taxing gasoline and beer. You know everyone is buying these products everyday, tax or not, a great deal of revenue is guaranteed. Do you really think the US govt. want's people to stop drinking or stop driving our cars and lose a huge revenue stream? Of course not, too much money at stake.

Freedom is Freedom. There is no conditional Freedom.

ok then thats fine but if you want to eat like a pig sign a disclaimer that the tax payer wont pay for your healthcasre when you give yourself diabetes and a heart attack

you can drive without a seatbelt as long as you nor your family will sue the other driver in an accident where you died but may have easily survived had you worn your seatbelt

if you choose to live in a bad area sign a disclaimer again that your insurance company wont have to pay out if you get broken in to, or pay the higher premium to cover the risky area you choose to live in.

This tax implies that people are so stupid, they need to be hurt in their wallets to not be lazy fat @!$%#s.

You haven't realized that the masses are stupid? Capitalism works, increase the price of unhealthy food, and it will eaten less often.

sorry, but most people are stupid and lazy. If I have to pay for their health care, then I get to say what they eat and what minimum exercise they get- that's how that works.

This tax implies that people are so stupid, they need to be hurt in their wallets to not be lazy fat @!$%#s.

Learn some self discipline. I enjoy soda and don't think I should have to pay more because there are some people who don't know wtf a gym is.

You and I are paying more for health insurance premiums because of obese people who consume a lot more health care than the rest of us.

Obesity is a societal problem, not an individual problem. Obesity drives up the cost of health care for everybody.

Maybe you exercise and eat right, but you are paying thousands of dollars more for health insurance every year because of the junk food fatties are making themselves sick and consuming a lot more health care. Doesn't this bother you?

That's why we should tax junk food. We already tax cigarettes.

It's frustrating how many idiot conservatives out there can't think through issues and see solutions without imaging grandiose communist conspiracies.

The tax man will come for you eventually. When people can't or won't buy the overtaxed items, the government will find something else to tax. Maybe even something you like CarlW. Just sayin'.

Thank you. Self control is all we need, not a nanny-state tax. NY is trying to add a tax, its not for health. Its just for more money.

Newsflash you morons, we (most specifically, Americans) are being taxed enough.

Do you really think some "morons" are really able to practice self control? I think they are, if it is cheaper to do so, and currently unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. Maybe they should have a fat tax instead, that would certainly make some people think twice before eating, without penalizing us who can control ourselves.

YOU are paying the cost of other people's lack of self control, even if you exercise perfect self-control, eat lots of vegetables, and exercise every day.

As Americans consume more and more junk food, YOU pay for it. It goes like this:

More obese people = more demand for health care resources

More demand for health care = higher costs of health care

higher costs of health care = higher insurance premiums for EVERYBODY

...

As long as you see junk food as a strictly individual issue (which it is not), and you fail to see the thousands of dollars you are paying for health insurance premiums because of obese people without self control, then you'll probably never see the sense in a reasonable junk food tax.

So instead of losing control over pizza, they will just supersize the FF @ Mickey D/s.

It's funny how quickly conservatives will connect a reasonable policy idea with whatever crazy conspiracy is floating around in their head.

The fact is, flowerchild, YOU are paying thousands of dollars every year in insurance premiums because of obese people who eat too much junk food. It is not an individual problem anymore.

Who cares if a 2-Liter of soda costs $1.30 instead of $1.20? If that extra ten cents is used to help people afford fruits and veggies and encourage people to eat better (which will lower health care costs for everybody).

But I guess everything you don't understand must be part of a dark, nanny-state, communist conspiracy, right?

Carl do you really think the government will use that extra tax money to fight obesity? No, they will use it for some other "project" like figuring out ways to tax us more or give themselves pay raises.

As far as over weight people a tax on soda and such is not going to stop them from drinking or eating it. Some people are over weight because they EAT to much and they don't EXERCISE. Other over weight people are over weight because of illness/disease such as a tyroid problem.

do you really think the government will use that extra tax money to fight obesity?

Yes, and even if they don't, they're still forcing people to pay for their own bad diet decisions instead of pushing the cost onto the rest of us.

Doesn't it matter that we have the most expensive health care system in the world and we're the most obese country on Earth?

If a 2-liter of pop costs $1.30 instead of #1.20, and we use some of that money to subsidize fruits & vegetables, some of it to pay for health care, and some of it for other programs, where is the harm?

We'll be a more healthy country, and everybody will pay less for health care, because the people who drink soda pop every day are forced to take into account the bad decisions they're making instead of forcing the costs onto people who make the right choices.

You're serious, aren't you Carl?

Where is the harm? Where does it stop?

You tax these items and the manufacturer drops the price.

Are you going to tax the items to make a pizza?

Things used to be handled a lot more simply.

Nobody wanted to be the fat kid in school. Now that everyone is so PC, being obese is socially acceptable.

Tax FAT people, not food!

Taxing these items isn't going to help. People eat what they know. Raised on junk food, their kids will be raised on junk food. Better education is needed. If the government would quit mismanaging the tax dollars they are already receiving we'd have the money to educate.

John- I have to disagree with the last sentence of your previous post. Read anything on the Newsvine about diet, weight, obesity, exercise; you name it. The LAST thing that obesity is is accepted in this country.

It is a powder-keg subject, and there are a growing number of people that I feel are so desparately angry at, or absurdly negative against any (women especially) who are over a size 0 that it would not at all surprise me to see open violence, and encouragement of said violence, against "the fatties".

By numbers I am "morbidly obese". Yet, when I walk around there are a LOT of people much, much larger than me. Most people are absolutely shocked when I tell them how much weight I have my goal set to lose.

Still, even I have been the "invisible" fat lady; getting cut in front of in doorways, snickered at, talked about, openly laughed at, and even one had someone nearly knock me over just walking down a sidewalk next to my husband. Don't think for a second that being over a skeleton size in this country is accepted by society- it is definitely not......

(I agree with the rest of your post!)

I do not support this. Just another example of some people with not enough to do so they generate something to draw attention to themselves. Evidently it is working.

I support this 100%. Americans obviously do not know how to control their calorie intake. All you have to do is stand on a street corner and watch how many of us are grossly overweight. I say they tax by the calorie though, to make it fair for all food. Soda is just one of the offenders, and in a capitalistic society, the only way to bring change is through $$. Make healthier food cheaper, and it will be eaten more often.

The revenues could be used to fund healthcare, and the implications would certainly lower healthcare costs over time.

I support the junk food tax.

I support individuals' right to make their own choices, when the consequences affect individuals only.

When the consequences of your choices affect other people, then it is a public problem.

When 2/3 of a country is obese, then EVERYBODY pays more for health insurance because of the increased demand for health care.

Obesity is not an individual issue. When you destroy your body with junk food and come down with diabetes or some other disease, then all those thousands of dollars you consume in health care get passed on to more responsible people on your health insurance plan.

I try to eat right and exercise, and it frustrates me how many thousands of dollars extra I pay because of other people who drink soda pop every day.

If you want to drink that 2-liter of sugary soda pop, go for it. Just pay the extra 10 cents in a junk food tax your obesity is going to cost the rest of us who happen to have insurance through the same group policy as you.

Just to point it out, athletes eat a LOT of calories, but they are far healthier than the average American. For example, Michael Phelps eats abotu 10,000 calories a day when he's training. So taxing by the calorie would penalize the obese, but it would penalize the healthiest Americans, too.

Just to point it out, athletes eat a LOT of calories, but they are far healthier than the average American. For example, Michael Phelps eats abotu 10,000 calories a day when he's training. So taxing by the calorie would penalize the obese, but it would penalize the healthiest Americans, too.

Do you really think caloric consumption of the .001 percent of Americans who are professional athletes accurately represents the junk food habits of the rest of our country?

Let's focus on the bigger picture... we're the most obese country in the world, and we're ALL paying for it, not just the fatties.

Michael Phelps (to use your example) has to pay more for his health insurance because although he is super-healthy and exercises several hours a day, he has to pay for the health care for the obese people on his health care plan who are getting fat off of cheap soda pop.

We should hold people responsible for their own choices, and that is what a junk food tax does. You are still free to drink all the pop you want, but you just have to pay for the obesity treatment it is going to cause, instead of shifting the costs onto other people who make better choices.

How about the fact that a HUGE amount of our insurance premiums goes directly to illegals? Maybe we should tax the illegals for every day they are here, rather than Americans who eat pizza and are NOT OBESE.

It must be. Just think some people are getting paid to come up with such crap.

McBob.....................It is serious for the fact that we can all see where our government is headed. Next thing will be "you can only use electricity four hours a day, you don't need to put on your heat.....it isn't cold, the water shut off between 6 PM and 6 AM, If you have a hybrid electric car and it only goes 40 miles on a charge, that's all you can drive, sorry, you cannot use your phone, you have talked too much today........get my drift?

Actually, a tax has nothing to do with your freedom and what you can and can't eat. Nobody's going to stop you from eating 50 cheeseburgers a day if that's what you want to do, you'll just pay more for it. Taxes play a fair part in a functioning society; people generally like the services that they pay for. Gasoline taxes pay for roads; you think you shouldn't have to pay for that because it impedes your freedom to drive? Nowhere in the constitution does it guarantee you the freedom to drive either. See where this logic takes you? By the way, since you support freedom so much I'm sure you have no problem with an end to the govt subsidies that make your garbage food cheap right? You don't mind paying what it really costs do you?

I'm all for rolling you off into a ditch if that's what you want, I don't want to pay for your health care either so we agree on that one.

I will agree that it really has nothing to do with getting people healthy though. In this day of mass media people have plenty of access to information and they know very well what's healthy and what's not. People like garbage because it tastes good and people have always done things that they knew were bad for them. They must be free to make their own choices. And in the future, try actually reading what I said; if you had you'd see that I said the tax was a stupid idea and the only way it could be applied fairly was to basically tax everything. It was to suggest that it would be very difficult to decide what to tax anyway because so much is actually bad for you.

I'm all for rolling you off into a ditch if that's what you want, I don't want to pay for your health care either so we agree on that one.

You will pay for his healthcare after he has a coronary and is rushed to the ER without insurance. We need to stop our socialist ERs who treat people who cannot pay.

Liz...are you serious? A tax has EVERYTHING to do with our freedom! A tax on food items like you suggest is merely the governments hand in social engineering; manipulating behavior through punishment (taxes).

As for the gas tax, I see tangible benefits of that in use. I see improved roads, improved infrastructure. As for the "sin" taxes...lets start off with the cigarette tax. Where was all that money supposed to go, huh? Health care and education, right? Did ANY of that money go to that end? No! It went into the general fund where it is spent on ANYTHING but what it was earmarked for! Would a "junk food" tax go toward education and health care like the cigarette tax was supposed to go for? Of course not! Junk food is just the latest incarnation of cigarettes. The fact of the matter is that revenue from cigarette taxes has dropped off substantially and that revenue needs to be replaced. So, what other "evil" is out there that can be taxed to make up for it? Hmmm...let's see...oh, ya, junk food! They'll tell us that we're doing it "for the children" when in fact they're just bottom-feeders looking for the next evil to tax! If cigarettes are so damn bad they should be BANNED! But, they would never kill a cash-cow, now, would they! Same with supposed "junk food"...if it is so damn bad it should be banned, right? But, why would they do that...they've simply found their next cash-cow!

Actually, JRW, I pay for my own health care! So, society won't be burdened with my lifestyle choices and the effects thereof!

I should be able to do ANYTHING I damn well please, under two (2) conditions...1) that my choices do not harm another person (personally or financially), and 2) my choices do not harm anothers posessions! Period! That is what true freedom is all about!

The fact of the matter is that revenue from cigarette taxes has dropped off substantially and that revenue needs to be replaced.

That means that the tax on cigarettes worked as it was intended. You cannot completely ban them, as that would definitely be hindering freedom. A tax doesn't affect your freedom, as you are still able to buy cigarettes, but increasing the initial penalty can deter people from seeing the long term penalties.

JRW...the impetus of the "cigarette tax" was to fund health care and education; remember? The money from cigarette taxes does NOT go to health care and education. Cigarettes are a convenient vehicle to impose a tax, that's all. And, now, along comes another convenience in junk food. When people quit smoking or eating junk food what happens to the revenue loss? Well, it must be made up in other areas, right? As you well know, I'm sure, a tax NEVER goes away...so, it is transferred to something else!

People are quitting smoking at record rates...and revenue has dropped dramatically from those quitting. So, how does government make up for that loss in revenue? They have to tax something else, right, under the auspices of the "health and welfare of the citizenry", right? What will be next, once the junk food tax revenue has declince because people are making their cheese burgers at home instead of getting them at McDonalds?

The sad reality is, once the taxes are implemented they never go away and freedom for the people slowly erodes.

Obesity is costing ALL of us a lot of money.

It is no coincidence that the fattest country on Earth pays the most for health care coverage.

There is no loss of freedom when a 2-liter of soda costs $1.30 instead of $1.20. You just have to pay the extra 10 cents to cover the cost you're pushing onto society when you get diabetic and demand more health care than the rest of us.

People need to take responsibility for their own actions instead of pushing the costs onto the rest of us, this junk food tax is a great way to make that happen.

If every time you eat garbage junk food, you pay a few cents in this junk food tax, then, over time, that money adds up to thousands and thousands of dollars...now you have money to fund your medical needs now that you're obese.

I believe in individuals paying for the consequences of their individual choices, instead of shifting those costs to the rest of us, and that's exactly what a junk food tax does.

I'm sick of paying more and more for health insurance every year because fatties who live on garbage junk food are destroying their bodies and costing me more money.

So, yes, the junk food tax is a good idea. Less obesity will save us all money in the long run.

Unless you live in a world where every tax is a nefarious, dark, evil, communist conspiracy from the Devil. Then I guess you wouldn't support the idea.

Give 'em time, they'll tax those items too!

we been doing this to smokers for years now that obesity is shown to cost us all in the long run why the He() not tax sugary drinks and snack the same reasons for smokers is the same for obesity altho with obesity more health care cost when the last smoker dies the obest can pay the health cost for all of us

with the gangs and pedifillas out there who would let their kids play outside away from home this is not the50's where we could play until the lights went on

you assume the goal was what was stated...to get people to quit bad habits...it's all about getting more money into the pockets of Politicians and has been a roaring success

they will find a way and a reason to tax everything and make it sound like a good idea...and it will end up in their own pockets and those of their donors

Tax fat people, really?

The article never said tax fat people. Did you even read the article?

It said tax junk food.

Obesity is NOT an individual issue. When half our country is obese, we ALL pay for it in increased demand (thus increased cost) for health care.

I'm sick of paying through the ceiling for health insurance because I have to chip in for medical treatments for fat people living on garbage junk food.

Paying a few extra cents every time you eat garbage junk food, to cover the medical needs that you are causing yourself, instead of pushing the costs onto the rest of us, makes sense.

This junk food tax is a good idea. Make people pay for their own bad choices instead of shifting the costs to other people who happen to be on the same health insurance plan.

CarlW, I think that you are focusing on the wrong aspect of the issue. Let's take two of your statements as truths for case of argument.

-Obesity is NOT an individual issue.

- When half our country is obese, we ALL pay for it in increased demand (thus increased cost) for health care.

The argument seems to be that abuse of junk food leads to obesity which then leads to higher costs for health care.

The existence of junk food is not the cause of obesity in this country, it is the abuse of the junk food. The solution of taxing junk food not only punishes the abusers but also those who occasionally eat junk food or do so in moderation.

This ends up with the exact same situation that you are complaining about, your health costs are higher because of the people whose actions are unhealthy leading to overall cost increases. That is the EXACT same thing as taxing junk food for all.

Why not punish the actual actions and results? Why not increase the costs of health care for those whose actions cause them to use it the most. Then a person who maintains their health will pay less and those who don't exercise/abuse junk food pay more.

You talk about the results but look at one input as the cause rather than actually adjusting based on those results. Health insurance isn't truly used as insurance, that is a big part of the problem. It is used as maintenance also. The maintenance of abuse costs more. Focus on that, not a single input into the equation.

I've read enough of the newsvine posts, on many different subjects, to know we are well on our way to not being able to make the most basic decisions for ourselves...we can barely think for ourselves...It is sad