This has got to be one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard of: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/hl_nm/britain_fat_dc;_ylt=AvDaZlf1BArYtPfB_X5vEskDW7oF Does taxing cigarettes stop people from smoking? No. Does taxing clothes stop people from wearing clothes? No. Will putting a tax on breathing stop people from breathing? No. Since this is a concern of Britain's, I was wondering just how bad the obesity problem in that country is. Can anyone let us know? What are your thoughts on the fat tax?
I think it is just another excuse for the government to charge us more tax. It won't affect what people buy and eat at all, but it will bring in more money for the government. If they wanted to stop people smoking they would either raise the taxes vastly (like increasing the price by 10 times) or just ban them. But they don't, they just want the tax revenue. So we have gradual increases each year for "health reasons" that are carefully calculated to be just at the level where people will reluctantly pay rather than giving up. The same will happen with a "fat tax" and with various "green taxes" being proposed or already in place.
Ahh, see I didn't know about the green taxes and health taxes. But I did figure out about them wanting more money That's why they haven't outlawed cigarettes anywhere yet. They know it's addictive, they know it's horrible for your health, they know it serves no purpose, but they continue to condone their sales (under guise of "stop smoking" campaigns, of course) because they're filthy rich off of it.
Completely Agree Because not just "fat" people buy unhealthy foods, i know i like to eat junk food, and i am pretty skinny! I think it is just stupid
Exactly, I eat fatty, sugary food day in and day out and I weigh 165 lbs (which ain't much for a guy of 6'2"). Though it does not really surprise me that the idea for this idiotic legislation comes from good old 1984topia. England's new national motto should be: Don't Think, Let Big Brother Do It for You.
It's not going to work. I support combating obesity and encouraging people to become healthier, but...I am a hypocrite since I eat junk food. I am slender though.
I have to put a point out here tho: The only reason I'll ever eat McDonald's is because it's cheap. I can usually get a meal there for a third or quarter of what I'd pay in a cafe. If this was increased I'd be more inclined to eat something else (not necessarily something "healthy" just "something other than McDonald's". Just my 2 cents. Ps Im grossly underweight so maybe this isn't a valid argument
Now i was having a discussion with some about taxation of cigarettes. I wasnt articulate as i would have like to been so im not sure i got my point across. I was saying that smoking and obesity have cased major problems. Problem we expect our government to fix. Guess wat they need resources to fix them. How do they get the resources? Should they tax everyone? Or should they tax the one who will use the services from this taxation? Shouldn't they tax the source of the problem? Hope i made my point
A good deterrent to get people to stop buying things like cigarettes and unhealthy food would be to make smoking/eating those products have long term serious health consequences that can dramatically shorten ones life... oh wait.
Sounds stupid but the person who came up with this tax must be sharp and knows cute tricks...But yeah, probably Paul is right...
its not going to stop people from eating bad foods in fact all it will be doing is making the government richer and the poor poorer and like crimsonthunder said its exersise if you are a health food nut and eat nothing but healthy food but you don't exersise then you are still unhealthy and could still easily die from a heart attack or other problems.
