Give Me a Break.

Taxes (0.00 / 0)

are regressive to 'the poor'. But later in life health care costs and obesity... are not. Society gets to pick up the tab because the costs are spread across a wide range of folks - from insurance premiums to medicare and on...

Of course, when insurance companies actively invest in fast food companies (PDF here: http://www.thebostonchannel.co... - they have a vested interest in making profits from visits to the doc.

If the $$ is so much greener over there in NH (and southern NH has become as much a suburb of Boston as parts of MA) - I'm wondering why these smart financial types aren't doing what all their studies suggest... they should be putting their $$ where their mouths are and packing it in. If it makes so much sense to operate like NH... one would think it would make sense to take their families, $$, houses, etc. and set up shop across the river.

---

by: bmike @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 18:13:12 PM UTC

Lost work, lost quality of life, etc. (4.00 / 1)

Are regressive to those suffering from the ill-health effects brought by poor nutrition as a result of the subsidies.

And I totally agree: if the other place is a shangri-la due to its tax policies, then why the heck are they choosing to live in a place that's supposedly so awful? Or perhaps there's more to life than the exact number of dollars you spend on a particular purchase? Maybe a decent education is important to parents? Maybe health insurance for kids, matters? Maybe they want to have their cake and eat it, too?

Yes, a free lunch is a nice idea, but the strings attached may be entirely unpalatable.

---

by: simplify @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 18:46:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If your children are sugar addicted (0.00 / 0)

then perhaps your parenting skills need work.
I strongly oppose this beverage tax for any number of reasons, as detailed in my post from earlier today.
I'm not too worried about it, though: no one who wants to get re-elected will vote for it in the Legislature.

"San Francisco gives away clean syringes to heroin addicts but won't let your kid have a Buzz Lightyear with his Happy Meal because it sends the wrong message."

It's true.

"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16

---

by: kestrel9000 @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 18:56:02 PM UTC

Yeah, (4.00 / 1)

that Lewis Black bit is funny. But its not equivalent. Its comedy.

Kids are constantly fed messages of 'want' from the tube, peers, and all sorts of places where the marketers do their work. Slipping toys into poor food choices takes advantage of those kids - and parents who grew up on the crap that gets shoveled around as 'food'. Add in the cheap cost and its easy to see why one would choose to eat food like substances on the go. Add in a way to occupy your screaming, overweight, ADD, sugar riddled kid for a few minutes of peace on the drive home ... and its a no brainer for some parents.

With the needles - folks are addicted. Treatment requires dedication and participation. And $$$. A side effect of addiction is that the delivery method in the case mentioned spreads disease. Needles are cheap. Giving away needles slows disease spread (saving $$), and may just snare a few folks into a treatment program.

One is using a lure to snag kids (and parents) into supporting a wholly unhealthy (for many reasons) industry and eating habits.

The other is trying to combat disease spread with a cheap solution. Sort of like if a town offered to drive around and pick up used motor oil so folks don't dump it into the river.

Now, if San Fran was giving away needles to kids so they could pick up some drugs at the local drive thru... I could see where we could argue. Or if they were giving out free happy meals with those needles in some sort of incentive program... but they aren't.  

---

by: bmike @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 19:57:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Um... (4.00 / 2)

Do I detect a little false-equivalency here?

Corporations are great at reinforcing their right to do wrong by playing the martyr for individual liberty card.

---

by: Sue Prent @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 19:23:44 PM UTC

True enough (0.00 / 0)

but I'm not a corporation.

"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16

---

by: kestrel9000 @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 19:24:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No, you aren't...and I do see your point. (4.00 / 4)

But this is a win-less situation for the poor, because to make their budget satisfy a houseful of bellies they have to go for the cheapest fillers, which Coca Cola and Frito-Lay are only too pleased to provide because their products represent all profit to virtually nothing in terms of nutritional investment; and the pay-off is the lifetime of repeat customers once all that subsidized sugar and corn hits the right chemical receptors in hungry brains.

---

by: Sue Prent @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 19:35:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And (4.00 / 2)

A nation full of folks who will need weight loss fads and programs, blood pressure meds, treatment for heart disease, and later in life 'care' - currently on a pay for fee service where physicians are rewarded for treating diseases, prescribing drugs, running test - and not helping to create healthy humans.

---

by: bmike @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 19:44:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Damn (4.00 / 2)

I never thought of it that way.
I think I need a cigarette. :(

"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16

---

by: kestrel9000 @ Thu Nov 18, 2010 at 20:02:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks, I'm now in recovery (4.00 / 1)

I heard this story repeated over and over on the "news" - and became somewhat despondent. The Chamber of Commerce, for bejesus sakes, sponsored this so-called study -- the same folks who just Swift-Boated the President and the Democratic party in the November mid-term elections. Whoever wrote the story that went out for public consumption definitely had a point of view -- but they absolutely did not have any "news."

---

by: vtrefugee @ Fri Nov 19, 2010 at 03:26:45 AM UTC