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Why Obama is a typical left wing social engineer - Soda pop tax???
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| Jayx1 |
This goes hand in hand with socialist health care and the left wing's attitude that they should be the ones to dictate lifestyle because "they know better". Sad that this disease is being spread to the US. True its a nation of fat s. But thats their decision. The governments role AT THE MOST should be education.
| quote: | WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama hinted he could support a "sin tax" on fizzy drinks to help lower high rates of US obesity, but admitted it would be an uphill battle against corporate and economic interests.
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"I actually think it's an idea that we should be exploring," Obama said in the forthcoming issue of Men's Health, regarding potential taxes levied on soft drinks such as colas and other sugar-filled products.
"There's no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that's been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else," he said in excerpts released ahead of the magazine's mid-September publication.
The president -- reported to be one of the fittest US commanders-in-chief in decades -- stressed that "obviously there is resistance on Capitol Hill to those kinds of sin taxes.
"Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products," he said.
In addition, "people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," Obama added.
"It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people?s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."
His comments come just six weeks after US health experts told a national conference on obesity in Washington that a significant portion of increased caloric intake in recent decades can be directly attributed to soft drinks and other sugared foods and drinks.
The president is currently embroiled in the most compelling domestic priority of his presidency, a reform of the US health care system.
Obama, who said he works out nearly every day in order to clear his head and reduce stress, described himself as "a healthy eater" with low blood pressure.
He keeps a bowl of apples in the Oval Office. "It was our first step toward health reform," he said.
Two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight and obesity-related illnesses cost the United States nearly 150 billion dollars a year, health officials were told at the July conference. |
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| Jayx1 |
| Why do i get the feeling mcguinty is going to copycat this? |
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| Nick Cenik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
the left wing's attitude that they..."they know better". |
'We know better' is, I'd say, an apt albeit short description of the attitude maintained by many right-wing thinkers. |
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| The Ear |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
This goes hand in hand with socialist health care and the left wing's attitude that they should be the ones to dictate lifestyle because "they know better". Sad that this disease is being spread to the US. True its a nation of fat s. But thats their decision. The governments role AT THE MOST should be education. |
Don't care. |
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| Sly_Guy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
The governments role AT THE MOST should be education. |
who are you to say this is as far as it should go? You of all people should recognize the power of education. Look at the war on drugs, termed 'education'....How many truthful facts can you draw off of them. Either they're in, or they're out. Completely. And American health will be poorer if they stay out. Book it. |
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| Endlesswave |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
This goes hand in hand with socialist health care and the left wing's attitude that they should be the ones to dictate lifestyle because "they know better". Sad that this disease is being spread to the US. True its a nation of fat s. But thats their decision. The governments role AT THE MOST should be education. |
Wait, so you think the Gov can organize education in a good and effective way but not healthcare?
Why not have BOTH? Both Gov sponsored/provided support for education and healthcare etc. Is that so bad? |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sly_Guy
Look at the war on drugs, termed 'education'.... |
Uh... isn't this implying that the government can't really be trusted with education? And given that, why would you go on to say that they should be "in" more things?
Anyway... I'm not touching the healthcare bull in yet ANOTHER thread with a 20-foot pole. I will however point out that virtually every canned or bottled drink is owned by one of the soft-drink corporations, and they tend to "harmonize" the prices, which is why you presently pay the same for a bottle of water vs. a can of coke. The net result of this tax would just be a higher cost of living for everyone who eats out; not one person will actually end up drinking any less Pepsi as a result, and they certainly won't be thinner or healthier.
To be honest, I might actually support something like this if it had any hope in hell of actually working. I generally don't have a problem with consumption taxes as opposed to income taxes. But because of the way beverages are produced, distributed, and priced, it won't work, and is therefore just another Obama cash grab to cover up for the fact that Uncle Sam is bleeding money. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nick Cenik
'We know better' is, I'd say, an apt albeit short description of the attitude maintained by many right-wing thinkers. |
Really? So right wing thinkers are micro engineers? Social conservatives tend not to support things like gay marriage but usually arent nanny state types.
Left wingers love these types of laws. Just look at our own examples. Miller, McGuinty and now Obama. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sly_Guy
who are you to say this is as far as it should go? You of all people should recognize the power of education. Look at the war on drugs, termed 'education'....How many truthful facts can you draw off of them. Either they're in, or they're out. Completely. And American health will be poorer if they stay out. Book it. |
At the most means its a stretch to go that far. Who am i to decide how far it should go? I have a better question. Who is the government to decide how we should run our own lives? My premise is simple. If something you do only harms yourself its no one else's business. And spare me the "cost and effect on society" routine because this can be argued against just about anything we do.
The war on drugs is a failure no doubt. But this type of policy is inherently different from the micro engineering that this pop tax represents. I dont agree with either policy. In fact one could argue that the war on drugs led to the idea that a war on sugar drinks is also acceptable. And if thats acceptable, whats the next target?
PS: Both the left and the right in the US has wholeheartedly supported the war on drugs with the exception of some libertarian groups. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Ear
Don't care. |
You cared enough to open the thread and read it ;) |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Endlesswave
Wait, so you think the Gov can organize education in a good and effective way but not healthcare?
Why not have BOTH? Both Gov sponsored/provided support for education and healthcare etc. Is that so bad? |
Im not against universal health care. Im against a completely public run system. I also think Obama is foolish to thrust a one trillion dollar program onto a nation that is already broke.
The danger socialist healthcare does bring is the next stage of the game where selfish people and governments start feeling it is their right to impose certain lifestyle choices on people in order to save the state run healthcare system money. We already see that here in Canada and even in some of the attitudes of TAs.
As for education, with the scandals that have gone on in our province alone id say that this is yet another government body prone to abuse and waste. But this pales in comparison to what goes on in health care. Just look at ehealth |
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| DeleteFromUsers |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Ear
Don't care. |
Trance what? |
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