A Weighty Idea

It is so easy to be negative. So easy to make fun of Hillary Clinton's proposal to get the government involved in fighting obesity with "...incentives and penalties." Instead of taking that easy path, we really need to open our minds a little and consider the possibilities, dare I say a veritable FEAST of possibilities.

For example, maybe we could nationalize the Jenny Craig plan take it over. I can see the TV ads now: "Hi. I'm Bill Clinton. I lost 37 pounds on the Hillary Diet." The Bureau of Statistics could publish an official Glycemic Index. By the way, does anyone have any idea what a Glycemic Index is? In any case the monthly release would quickly become known as the "G.I. Report".

Instead of a Weekly Radio Address each Saturday President Clinton could have a regular program on the Food Channel or PBS: "Cooking With Hillary". It would feature nothing but nutritious, low fat preparations. She could even supplement the show with a book of recipes. How about as a working title "It Takes a Cabbage".

While others advocate a Flat Tax, this President would impose a Fat Tax. French Fries and soft drinks would be treated just like cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. The extra revenue would pay for publicly funded weight reduction spas as well as the new enforcement department we'd need, the Fat Prevention Institution. Obviously we would require thousands of FPI agents, Obese Police, to make sure everyone complies with the new diet laws.

So you can ridicule if you want. But as candidate Clinton points out, obesity has become a national problem which requires the kind of creativity we can only find in the bureaucracy. She says it will take "...some carrots and maybe a few sticks". That's a beginning. Both are very high in fiber.

Comments

[MichaelL]

If the corrupt FDA hadn't given us the junk science diet pyramid in the 70s with the focus on 8-10 servings of carbs per day, we probably wouldn't be here. Are eggs good for us or bad for us? I haven't heard in at least a week. Personal responsibility isn't very popular on this site, but it is the best solution. Can you imagine the dollars flying when the gubmint published a revised recommended diet? The lobbyists for beef, chicken, and pork will throw millions to contradict the fish and broccoli lobbyists. Believe nothing the gubmint publishes: it is all tainted with lobby money. Common sense tells me what to eat. High fiber, low sodium, good cholesterol, red wine, less processed foods and organic when I can find it.

[nowaterboardUSA]

A national economy that's based on CONSUMERISM and too many people CONSUMING too much food. Could be a flaw in there somewhere!

[myskylark]

You may think this is funny, but millions of adults and children face years of illness and premature death because of what is now a national health crisis. The U.S. is now the fattest nation on earth, and it's no laughing matter. Obesity is now an epidemic in our country -- an epidemic that reults in high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes in kids of 8, 9 and 10. I'm grateful that somebody is willing to take on this problem. Way to go, Hillary!

[OhgReaTone]

I have prospered in my life. Prospered in terms of my waist line - that ultimate definition of an American life well lived. "What are you gonna do?" as grandma Santiago used to say. I am entering my Senior years and taking care of my body is more important, and harder than ever before. I embrace the movement to fight obesity.
Ohg
http://thefireside.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/old-people-exercising/

[cktirumalai]

Obesity, like several other matters, falls between the libertarian view that a person's Body Mass Index is nobody's business but their own and the view that it has social and other costs, as in medical care, which society has a legitimate interest in. We can, however, create a climate in which people make decisions about themselves in the more or less full knowledge of the consequences their choices entail for themselves and others.