Would you support a diet-related morbid obesity tax?
June 3, 2009 · Filed Under Diabetes · 6 Comments
John asked:
I’m not thinking about those people who are obese because of a pre-existing condition like diabetes or a side effect of a medicine.But consider that most obese people are at a much higher risk of getting sick, while taxpayers-based health insurance like Medicaid must pay for their problems. So if you have a person who eats fast food junk everyday and weighs 300 pounds, should they pay some additional tax and why?
I’m not thinking about those people who are obese because of a pre-existing condition like diabetes or a side effect of a medicine.But consider that most obese people are at a much higher risk of getting sick, while taxpayers-based health insurance like Medicaid must pay for their problems. So if you have a person who eats fast food junk everyday and weighs 300 pounds, should they pay some additional tax and why?
Should we slap on a Fat Tax for Obesity just as we have with Tobacco?
May 20, 2009 · Filed Under Diabetes · 11 Comments
Me, Too asked:
Obesity is a killer, causing folks to have diabetes, strokes and heart attacks. Cigarettes also kill, thus we have taxed them to very high prices, thus discouraging folks from smoking. Should we start by having Fat Sections in Restaurants, or perhaps insisting that Fatties gobble their calorie-high foods outside on the curb, 100 feet from the doorway, thus taking them from the sight of slimmer, healthier folks? Should we give obese people the same treatment we have given cigarette smokers, with similar laws for eating fatty foods? Would this cut down on obesity? Would it save lives? Would it relieve the high cost of treating these people for strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases ? Or is it any of our business what anyone does with his or her life?
Obesity is a killer, causing folks to have diabetes, strokes and heart attacks. Cigarettes also kill, thus we have taxed them to very high prices, thus discouraging folks from smoking. Should we start by having Fat Sections in Restaurants, or perhaps insisting that Fatties gobble their calorie-high foods outside on the curb, 100 feet from the doorway, thus taking them from the sight of slimmer, healthier folks? Should we give obese people the same treatment we have given cigarette smokers, with similar laws for eating fatty foods? Would this cut down on obesity? Would it save lives? Would it relieve the high cost of treating these people for strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases ? Or is it any of our business what anyone does with his or her life?