New Jersey Thinks You Look Fat In Those Pants

Because obesity and taxes are two of the best subjects to get people all riled up, in an effort to raise their Google ranking, New Jersey decided to propose a new tax on fast food. Governor John S. Corzine (the Not Gay One -- remember him? Don't feel bad, nobody does.) is proposing a 2% tax on all fast food purchases in the state. The proceeds would then go to fund struggling hospitals. How else is New Jersey going to convince Angelina Jolie to have her babies there unless they have a celebrity birthing suite?

Stealing from the rich fast food companies to give to the poor charity hospitals sounds like a great idea on the surface but according to Senate President Richard Codey, it's more like stealing from the poor and hoping that enough of them die from hunger that they won't require hospital services. Okay, those are more my words than his but the general objection is that this tax would target poor families, the subgroup most likely to rely on fast food for nourishment, and families with children, the subgroup most likely to rely on restaurants with Playlands.

New Jersey already has a precedent for this with the highest tax in the nation on cigarettes, at $2.58 per pack. This combined with the proposed fast food tax is obviously an effort to clean up the state's rednecks. Britney Spears, although not an official resident of New Jersey, commented "First they take my cigs. Now my gordita supremes. What's next, my kids?"

Apart from the second wealthiest state in the union taxing the lowest-earning segment of the population, New Jersey is opening up a whole new can of worms by trying to legislate people into better health. Since shaming people isn't making them take better care of themselves, let's try hitting them where it really hurts -- in their big, fat wallet. New York is considering a similar resolution, but even more sweeping -- encompassing not just fast food but all kinds of "unhealthy" things like DVD rentals, movie tickets and video games. New Yorkers being less altruistic than Jerseyites, they are thinking of using the revenue to fund "healthy living campaigns" which I can only assume will include classes in multi-lingual cursing and advanced jaywalking techniques.

This kind of thinking taken to its extreme ends up with a proposal by Eric Topol, chief of cardiology at The Cleveland Clinic, "[give] a federal income tax credit to slender people, while the people ruining our health care economics [the obese] would pay the standard tax. People who are able to be disciplined and lose weight should be rewarded." So, would anorexics get double the credit for both being slim and taking themselves out of the system early by dying young?

The real downfall of these types of taxes however, is that they haven't been shown to work. While they are still new, the data so far does not support the assertion that they will lower the country's skyrocketing obesity rate. Food is a far more complex thing to legislate than, say, cigarettes, and obesity is a far trickier disease to diagnose and treat than, say, lung cancer. So, the government is proposing a new, unproven program that will suck more money from citizens and funnel it into the broken health care system. Wait, I think I've heard this one before...

Just like the government can't force you to wear a motorcycle helmet by taxing bullet bikes, they can't make someone eat healthier by taxing their Big Macs. So, who's up for a tax on thong underwear? I hear granny panties reduce teen pregnancy.

Comments

[JScott]

'Just like the government can't force you to wear a motorcycle helmet ' Calif. did that several years ago.
And starting in July (just like New Jersey?) using a hand held cell phone while driving will be against the law.

And they could propose a much simpler solution, disclose in a consisent format the fat salt sugar and caloric content of restaurant food and disclose the source. At least a consumer of any income level would be informed and then let the 'market' make the choices.

[Lesscancer]

Tax on New Jersey’s fast food is desperate attempt for a solution, but a non-fixer.

This situation is bigger than a burger.

This is a lame attempt, where the poor are actually going to be made to pay more for the very food that could be sending them to the hospital in the first place!

For what, more unaffordable health care?

Today in the United States little is being done in the name of prevention.

Seemingly health care systems are exclusively expanding to meet the needs for “treatment” not prevention.

And while the “cure” can never be over looked, very little is being done in the name of prevention.

Health care has some how has lost it’s humanitarian culture to a dark corporate tunnel, where bottom line and profit are everything.

As we have seen recently in the news in the cash before chemo story, where the famed non-profit cancer center MD Anderson had a patient pay first for chemo- asking for reportedly 105,000.00 cash up front before they would admit her.

If the focus for health care would health-care would expand its vision for prevention –New Jersey’s health care climate along with other states could have been be very different.

Bill Couzens, Founder, Lesscancer.org

[WorkingClass]

When I was in basic training there was an exercise area beside the mess hall. When we were lined up for our noon meal the drill instructor would walk up and down the line yelling FAT BOYS IN THE SAND PIT. While the rest of us ate the fat guys did jumping jacks. Some would try to stay in line but another drill instructor would stop them at the door and say WHERE YOU GOING FAT BOY. It seems a bit harsh but I think Americans would prefer it to taxation.

[Semaj51]

How here comes the lobbyists, lawyers, health freaks, and anyone else who wants their view to be everyone else’s. The first questions – what classifies as “fast food”? McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys are all obvious choices, but should we include Subways or Waffle Houses?

One of my pet peeves is having others decide what is best for me – what I should eat, or how I should exercise, or even how I should vote….

[azusmom]

Yeah, it all sounds a bit Orwellian to me.

[sco8d]

Hey, if it helps force people to buy food from a local joint owned by a local person it is not bad at all. Just don't tax the locally owned pizza joints and hoagie shops, and the people will switch to them and keep the money in the state.