We should tax crime, that'll solve the problem.

/We should also tax people for not paying enough in taxes, to make up the budget gap

Revolutions have started for far less reasons.

I'm not one of those anti-tax WHARRGARBL guys but taxing soda at the federal level is retarded.


Think about it, HFCS are in soda (the suspected contributor to the obesity "epidemic") The reason HFCS are used instead of real sugar because it's cheaper. Why is it cheaper? Corn subsidies.

Instead of penalizing bad foods, they should subsidize good foods.

Britney Spear's Speculum: Think about it, HFCS are in soda (the suspected contributor to the obesity "epidemic") The reason HFCS are used instead of real sugar because it's cheaper. Why is it cheaper? Corn subsidies.

That and the sugar tariff. Though I really doubt HFCS is that much more fattening than sugar. It just tastes worse.

Calories consumed minus calories burned. It's that simple. Any one targeting one specific food item as being "the cause" of obesity is full of fatty, lipid horseshiat.

Setting aside the lack of efficacy, this sort of nonsense is a perfect example of how you can't declare health care a "public good" without also intruding on people's personal lifestyle choices. Even if the "we're paying for them!" argument is false, as it is with the obese since they actually cost less by dying sooner, it's a frighteningly compelling argument for creeping regulation of formerly private decisions.

LadyHawke: I propose that instead of raising taxes on all things unhealthy, we find ways to lower prices on the healthy foods. I do not have any ideas as to what would work or not as far as that goes, but I bet people would eat more fruit and veggies if they were easier on the wallet.

I paid $4 for a small package of blueberries this morning. An egg McMuffin value meal would have been cheaper, and more filling.

/trying to be less fat

To get rid of the obesity epidemic, we either have to have poverty, or we'll need to evolve beyond basic pavlovian responses. Until it stops being sweet, sugar will be a part of the human diet.

And the only thing a tax on pizza would do, is raise the coffers. If you're ordering a pizza, you understand that you're basically paying for convenience, therefore you're already willing to pay more for it.

LadyHawke: I bet people would eat more fruit and veggies if they were easier on the wallet.

No they wouldn't. You can buy a farkton of rice and beans pretty cheaply which serves as a base for meals. Add in some veggies and cheese and you've got the basic dietary needs for a person. Some meat or fish can add some variety. The problem is that it's easier to waddle through the drive-thru and order the value meal without even getting out of your car.

eddyatwork: waddle through the drive-thru

Sounds like exercise.
No thanks.

A few years back, I cut out all soda because I was drinking two to three 12oz cans a day and went from 192 to 147 in around 6 months time.

Coke is the devil, but so dang delicious.

Kitchenaid to the rescue!


/It takes less than 10 minutes to make pizza dough not counting the rising time

Somaticasual: And the only thing a tax on pizza would do, is raise the coffers. If you're ordering a pizza, you understand that you're basically paying for convenience, therefore you're already willing to pay more for it.

I'm willing to raise the coffers a bit. The money from coke could go toward paying the government's costs associated with obesity or for obesity education or for subsidizing healthier foods or subsidizing gym memberships or any number of things. I occasionally buy a coke or two, and I'd be willing to pay a bit more for it depending on where the money was going.

But I'm definitely with you guys on the homemade pizza. Now, I make my friends buy me all the stuff I need for pizza, we get a lot better food, and I end up with leftover flour, oil, and cheese.

namatad: Churchill2004: fatty, lipid horseshiat

fatty, lipid is redundant

And yet still not as embarrassing as going out of your way to point it out.

Cake Hunter: FEET?!

Obviously ;).

The Icelander: You sound short.

5'11", so more or less average.

The tax might cut down on obesity, but I really don't like the precedent it would set.

TheOnion: HFCS isn't what's causing obesity, it's the damn sugar, no matter what form it's in. Soda with cane sugar isn't any less caloric (or worse for you) than HFCS.

White sugar is better than HFCS because research shows that HFCS fark with your metabolism, ramp up on your feed forward and turn off the negative feed back hormone hunger signaling. So you may be full after eating a set amount of food containing an arbitrary amount of sucrose but you won't be full after eating the same food controlled for the arbitrary amount of HFCS.

Not to get all XKCD here but there is a correlation with increase of intake and obesity with the introduction of HFCS into everyone's food. Take that as you will.

HFCS/sugar are in everything. It's funny to see those corn refiners PSAs because they say 'it's fine in moderation.' That may be, but how do you have moderation in every single piece of farking food.

muck4doo: Goddamnit, libs piss me off. They always can find a reason to tax anything.

Someone has to pay for conservatives' massive spending.