Fat Tax

The time has come to put a fat tax into law. There is simply no good argument against it, no matter how many millions of dollars junk food lobbyists spend to convince you otherwise. With obesity rates on the rise, the cost of health care skyrocketing and the national debt ballooning out of control, America is ripe for a major shift in how we look at food.

Never mind the enormous revenue the government would receive from taxing soda pop and cheeseburgers. The real benefit is personal health. Look at the cigarette tax. Smokers bitched and complained at first and kept on puffing. But now, as the federal tax increases to over a $1 a pack, several states are reporting a drop in sales. Less smokers equals less cigarette-related health problems. So why not tax the one thing that is causing us more harm than cigarettes ever could?

Opponents will tell you that a fat tax hurts the poor because they tend to consume unhealthier foods -like they actually care about the poor. Junk food manufacturers target the poor. They take advantage of their low incomes by selling them processed garbage that will eventually lead to serious health conditions. They will tell you that a fat tax leads to food manufacturers laying off employees. Not true. These are smart business people. They’ll find a way to offset the tax without having to make cutbacks. Opponents will also tell you that a fat tax is unfair, unproven and un-American. They are wrong.

Change isn’t easy. People become complacent in their lives and are afraid to deviate from their comfort zone. But a change such as a fat tax has to be radical to work. We need a swift kick in the ass and I'm hoping President Obama has the rocks to do it with a fat tax. What would happen if a poor family could no longer afford to buy a box of Twinkies at $3.50 and opted for a bunch of bananas at $1.90 instead? Wouldn’t they be saving money, AND eating healthier? What if food manufacturers decided it was smarter to invest in using healthier ingredients in their products now instead of suffering the longterm effects of a steep, increasing fat tax? And what if the most fair and most American thing we can do is to take a stand against the things that are destroying us, you know, like we do when terrorists attack. Maybe if we think of high fructose corn syrup as the Taliban, something will be done.

I’m not bashing junk food here. I like my french fries and bacon cheeseburgers as much as the next guy, I just think they should be splurges we are willing to pay a little more for when we get a hankering, instead of a staple of our daily diets. I also see it as a win-win situation. A Fat Tax will work. It will get us out of debt and out of our hoveround motorized scooters.