Weaver95: St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

just wait - someone will show up and try.

Here's an idea: head over to the Bank of America thread and say "if you overdraw your account and have to pay a fee, it's not their fault. It's your fault," and see how well that goes over.

downstairs: Not purposely misinformed by fast food places.

I don't think misinformation is the problem. I don't think people eat it thinking that it's healthy.

Though, I wouldn't mind seeing a ban on fast-food advertising. Like what they did with cigarettes. Particularly ads geared towards children.

If adults want to make the decision to buy crap for themselves, I don't have a problem with that. But brainwashing kids into wanting it through kids' meals, cartoon characters, and advertising during children's programming isn't a good idea in my opinion.

My only counter is that restaurants should be required to show the calorie, fat, carb and sugar contents of a meal. Then you really have nobody other than yourself to blame.

"I didn't know that eating a medium Double Whopper meal would make me fat!"
"The sign says that each meal is 1600 calories, 79g of fat (23g saturated fat), 184g of carbs (88g sugar) and 1660mg of sodium. The USDA nutritional guidelines are on the wall over there. Here is your meal. Now STFU and GTFO, fatty."

make me some tea: Never had a problem this time around.

Isn't there a greenlight over in today's business tab regarding a class action lawsuit that BoA lost regarding such fees? They might have changed, but it wasn't because of the kindness of their cholesterol-choked heart.

downstairs: Pretty sure all fast food places make this available to you. I'm sure I've seen it on the wall at a McDonalds.

Completely agree, but that requires the sloths to waddle over and look at them. When the numbers are immediately next to the item on the menu, they are kinda hard to avoid.

The goal is to remove as many excuses as possible. You shouldn't have to, but when half of your population consists of people with below average IQs, stuff like "shouldn't have to" goes out the window.


make me some tea: That shiat was nothing short of robbery. Wells Fargo was doing it too.

I think many of the for-profit banks were doing this. One more reason I dicthed 'em for a CU over a decade ago.

downstairs: Kids like candy, soda, fast food, junk snacks. Want to ban advertising them too?

I think that's an awesome idea.

downstairs: shivashakti: downstairs: Kids like candy, soda, fast food, junk snacks. Want to ban advertising them too?

I think that's an awesome idea.

Cool. Lets just ban advertising anything that could be dangerous if not used or consumed in moderation. The good thing about that is there'd be no more advertising. I guess the bad is we wouldn't have freedom of speech anymore.

Better yet, let's have mandatory classes to address advertising techniques.

We live in a capitalist society, yet don't give kids the weapons they need to fight against people who spend billions of dollars every year to successfully learn to control consumer behavior.

St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

Sure. And drug dealers bear no responsibility for the drug problem.

Bryant said "there's no purpose" for Urdahl's bill, adding that he's never heard of a Minnesota case of the type the bill is meant to ban. Lawyers and judges are the best deterrents to baseless litigation, Bryant added.

Obviously Bryant has some interest in keep some possibilities open, but I think there is a good case to be made here. If somebody eats themselves fat it's their own fault, but I do wonder if these proposed laws may then be used to shield businesses from more legitimate lawsuits...

TheMadChaosopher: St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

fark YOU! this is AMERICA!

i will NOT be held accountable for my own actions!

Agreed. Which is why giant corporations need special laws to keep them from being held accountable for their own actions through the traditional, historically grounded tort process. They just refuse to be held accountable for their actions.

Weaver95: ne2d: Weaver95: St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

just wait - someone will show up and try.

Here's an idea: head over to the Bank of America thread and say "if you overdraw your account and have to pay a fee, it's not their fault. It's your fault," and see how well that goes over.

Bad example - BoA likes to play silly buggers with how they process your deposits and withdraws. Burger King doesn't look at your order and then decide to randomly add 5,000 calories to your meal when you aren't looking.

I didn't know a loogey had 5000 calories

Yes, you shouldn't be allowed to sue McDonalds for making you fat. You chose to eat there.

HOWEVER

You should be able to sue McDonalds if they market deceptive "diet plans" that consists of their food but lie about the calorie content, or add in fatty extras for free.


Lets say McDonalds advertises a salad* that has 200 calories Then you make the decision to eat at McDonalds because their salad has only 200 calories in it. While you literally paid for the lettuce tomato and carrots, they threw in the 1500 calorie dressing for free.

This bill could shields them from the ladder and that's bad.



*salad = lettuce, tomato and carrots, dressing not included

Cman1982: Yay more stupid liberalism!

Get out, troll. You failed hard last time I saw you, and you won't fare any better here.

I'm fine with this, along with taxation upon the product.

If individuals can't bring suit against the purveyors of the source, then society has to eat the costs incurred.

Tax the hell out of it.

Guidette Frankentits: This bill could shields them from the ladder and that's bad.

I think it's only bad if they walk under the ladder.

Dinjiin: My only counter is that restaurants should be required to show the calorie, fat, carb and sugar contents of a meal. Then you really have nobody other than yourself to blame.

I don't think this is a bad idea. However, I would like to point out that anyone who isn't smart enough to know that eating regularly at just about any restuarant with a drive-thru is going to turn you into a food blister, isn't going to be smart enough to know how many calories a human body needs in a day.

Cinaed: Tax the hell out of it.

Agreed.


Also end subsidies for corn.

make me some tea: St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

Indeed.

you know if it weren't for these people suing places like this, I would never be able to know how many calories are in my taco, or subway sandwich, or whatever.

You have to admit, there are way to many frivolous lawsuits brought on in this country.

/dnrtfa

McDonald's is your kind of place
Hamburgers in your face
French fries between your toes
Dill pickles up your nose

Ketchup running down your back
I want my money back
Before I have a heart attack

(Sung to a peppy ad jingle blatantly stolen from the gospel hymn, "Down by the Riverside")

St_Francis_P: I'm all for knowing what's in there, but it doesn't take an expert to realize the stuff is fattening, and overeating will make you fat.

And now that you've told me that, I'll go watch hours of TV ads, hundreds of billboards, and thousands of print ads that show me active, healthy girls in track suits eating quarter pounders, smiling, telling me I'm loving it, all set to peppy directing and an up-beat musical track.

Testiculator Ablaze: You have to admit, there are way to many frivolous lawsuits brought on in this country.

/dnrtfa

It should be for the courts to decide what is and isn't frivolous -- you can be forced to pay costs, for example.

Legislation should not preemptively eliminate an entire class of potential disputes between private parties.

/activist legislatures....

The All-Powerful Atheismo: you know if it weren't for these people suing places like this, I would never be able to know how many calories are in my taco, or subway sandwich, or whatever.

You could always ask. If they won't tell you, don't eat there. You don't need Government to be your mommy. It just costs everyone else more money.

captain_heroic44: TheMadChaosopher: St_Francis_P: "If you eat too many cheeseburgers at a fast-food restaurant and get fat, it's not their fault. It's your fault," Urdahl said.

Hard to argue with that.

fark YOU! this is AMERICA!

i will NOT be held accountable for my own actions!

Agreed. Which is why giant corporations need special laws to keep them from being held accountable for their own actions through the traditional, historically grounded tort process. They just refuse to be held accountable for their actions.


This.

This particular case is pretty facile, but the most common ancillary theme of the whole "personal responsibility" shtick is that little persons are to be held responsible and Corporate Persons™ are not.

Technically it isn't about hazzing cheezburgers, its about suing after you haz cheezburger.

soy_bomb: The All-Powerful Atheismo: you know if it weren't for these people suing places like this, I would never be able to know how many calories are in my taco, or subway sandwich, or whatever.

You could always ask. If they won't tell you, don't eat there. You don't need Government to be your mommy. It just costs everyone else more money.

15 years ago, I could ask ANYWHERE and NOBODY would tell me. It isn't that way now, and it's thanks to people holding these places accountable to the minimum extent of TELLING people what is in their food.

soy_bomb: You could always ask. If they won't tell you, don't eat there. You don't need Government to be your mommy. It just costs everyone else more money.

Yeah.

Instead, fast-food joints need the government to be their mommy, which is why their lobbyists have convinced their legislators to introduce this bill.

/of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations...

The All-Powerful Atheismo: 15 years ago, I could ask ANYWHERE and NOBODY would tell me. It isn't that way now, and it's thanks to people holding these places accountable to the minimum extent of TELLING people what is in their food.

This.

It's just like the grocery stores.

In the day, grocers kept staples up front for shoppers' convenience. Then marketing consultants got the idea to separate them onto opposite ends of the store to force the shopper to walk a 1/2-mile through advertisements and products, usually ending up in the shopper spending money they hadn't planned on.

People complained loudly and spoke with their wallets, going to other stores... until every single grocery store followed suit.

Refusing to support the marketing strategy at one store meant you had to support it at another. The consumers have no real power.

Lenny_da_Hog:
Legislation should not preemptively eliminate an entire class of potential disputes between private parties.

Oh I agree. There just seems to be no common sense in these things any more.

Par for the course though, I suppose.

Lenny_da_Hog: Instead, fast-food joints need the government to be their mommy, which is why their lobbyists have convinced their legislators to introduce this bill.



If you don't trust them, don't eat there! No one is forcing you to eat someone else's food. If you are fat, it is your own damn fault not some big meany, evil, faceless corporation.

/Get your ass out and run and you eat most anything you want...

soy_bomb: If you don't trust them, don't eat there! No one is forcing you to eat someone else's food. If you are fat, it is your own damn fault not some big meany, evil, faceless corporation.

/Get your ass out and run and you eat most anything you want...

And if the corporations don't like the case laws governing commerce and disputes, they can go to another country. It's not the fault of some meany, evil consumer!