Progs propose another regressive tax

[Lucille]

Why do progs hate the poor?

The control freaks are just getting started. Thanks to Barry's Big Fascist Medical System, everything we put into our bodies is now the fedgov's business.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-19/us-government-proposes-sugary-food-tax-curb-obesity


The totalitarian arm of the ever-growing government appears to know no limit. In today's "oh no they didn't" moment, the US Government's diet panel has dictated proposed one more oppression of American's freedom to choose:

*GOV'T PANEL PROPOSES SUGARY-FOOD TAX TO FUND NUTRITION PROGRAMS, CURB OBESITY

On the bright side, the government approves of "lean meat" as compatible with healthy eating. The bill, introduced by Rep. Juan Candelaria, D-New Haven, would impose a tax of 1 cent per ounce on soft drinks - including sweetened teas, energy drinks and soda - and candies that are high in sugar and calories.

As Bloomberg reports,


Americans should pay taxes on sugary sodas and snacks as a way to cut down on sweets, though they no longer need to worry about cholesterol, according to scientists helping to revamp dietary guidelines as U.S. obesity levels surge.

The recommendations Thursday from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee also call for Americans to reduce meat consumption and to take sustainability into account when dining.

The panel released its report as the Obama administration seeks ways to fight obesity, which now affects more than one-third of American adults and 17 percent of children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“What we’re calling for in the report in terms of innovation and bold new action in health care, in public health, at the community level, is what it’s going to take to try and make a dent on the epidemic of obesity,” committee chairwoman Barbara Millen of Millennium Prevention in Westwood, Massachusetts, said in a telephone interview.

Suggestions by the nonpartisan panel of academics and scientists helps shape school lunch menus and the $6 billion a year Women, Infants and Children program, which serves more than 8 million Americans buying groceries from retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Kroger Co. The recommendations were sent to the two agencies that later this year will issue the final guidelines that are used to create the government’s icon for healthy diets, currently a dinner-plate that replaced the widely used food pyramid.

Government knows best:


“Higher sugar-sweetened beverage taxes may encourage consumers to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption,” according to the advisory panel. “Using the revenues from the higher sugar-sweetened beverage taxes for nutrition health promotion efforts or to subsidize fruits and vegetables could have public health benefits.”

The document states that “lean meats can be a part of a healthy dietary pattern.”

“The food industry is frantic about the guidelines. They don’t want anything in there that says anything about eating less of their products. That’s their concern more than anything else.”

* * *

So, expensive non-refined foods are good? And the poorist people - who can't afford to eat the way the government dictates - will pay all the taxes?

[Brian4Liberty]

Americans should pay taxes on sugary sodas and snacks as a way to cut down on sweets,

Yeah, because that has worked so well with cigarettes. :rolleyes:

As the thread title suggests, in the end, it's nothing more than a regressive tax on the unrepresented mundanes. Taxation without representation.

[Brian4Liberty]

So a government "panel" proposes a Federal Sales Tax. Who are they to create new Federal Taxes?

[Lucille]

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/02/19/government-control-freaks-want-to-tax-the-fat-out-of-you/


Do Democrat control freaks actually believe the shit they propose will work, or do they just want more tax revenue to support their welfare/warfare state? Do Obama and his minions realize poor people buy most of the cigarettes and eat most of the junk food in this country? Taxing the shit out of cigarettes hurts their main constituency, but I guess they figure the Free Shit Army is too stupid to realize they are getting fucked over by the Democrats they elect. Now they want to fuck over the poor again, with their ridiculous sugar food tax. The idiocy permeating this nation is almost overwhelming in its obscene levels amongst all classes.


So a government "panel" proposes a Federal Sales Tax. Who are they to create new Federal Taxes?

Here they are: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/01-DGAC-staff-membership.asp

Full report: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/

Video at the link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-19/tax-on-sugary-foods-proposed-by-u-s-panel-to-help-fight-obesity

[Lucille]

U.S. Dietary Panel Advocates Sweetened Drink Tax, More Labeling, and Not Adding Cream & Sugar to Your Coffee, Gosh Darnit
"Care should be taken to minimize the amount of calories from added sugars and high-fat dairy or dairy substitutes added to coffee."
http://reason.com/blog/2015/02/19/us-dietary-panel-advocates-tax-on-sugary


It's true that this report emphasizes overall dietary patterns more than particular food groups or nutrients—so far, so good. But the broadminded approach extends a little too far; now everything from environmental sustainability to helping immigrants adjust to a new food culture falls under the DGAC's purview. And the committee hasn't really abandoned its tendency to single out specific nutrients as special diet dangers, suggesting that drinks with added sugars are a good candidate for targeted taxation:


Higher sugar-sweetened beverage taxes may encourage consumers to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. Using the revenues from the higher sugar-sweetened beverage taxes for nutrition health promotion efforts or to subsidize fruits and vegetables could have public health benefits.
[...]
But the committee isn't content just to give people coffee tips: to promote a diet low in sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars, "policies and programs at local, state, and national levels in both the private and public sector are necessary ... Similarly, the Committee supports efforts in labeling and other campaigns to increase consumer awareness and understanding of sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars in foods and beverages."

And despite dropping its recommendation against the cholesterol, the committee is still clinging to its stance on low-sodium diets. "For sodium, emphasis should be placed on expanding industry efforts to reduce the sodium content of foods and helping consumers understand how to flavor unsalted foods with spices and herbs," says the report.

Members of the nonpartisan advisory committee are chosen by the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture. Their updated recs are meant to inform the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which comes out later this year. The report—first published in 1980—informs all manners of federal food policy, including public assistance programs and school lunch requirements.

The advisory committee's new recommendations are open for public comment until March 24, 2015; you can view the whole report here.

In addition to recommending particularly dietary patterns based on their ability to promote health, the report for the first time notes the advantages of "sustainable diets":


The major findings regarding sustainable diets were that a diet higher in plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in calories and animal-based foods is more health promoting and is associated with less environmental impact than is the current U.S. diet. This pattern of eating can be achieved through a variety of dietary patterns, including the Healthy U.S.-style Pattern, the Healthy Mediterranean-style Pattern, and the Healthy Vegetarian Pattern.

Current evidence shows that the average U.S. diet has a larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and energy use, compared to the above dietary patterns. This is because the current U.S. population intake of animal-based foods is higher and plant-based foods are lower, than proposed in these three dietary patterns. Of note is that no food groups need to be eliminated completely to improve sustainability outcomes over the current status.

In terms of "individual diet and physical activity behavior change," the committee calls for "stronger Federal policies to help prevent household food insecurity and "advices food and nutrition assistance programs "take into account the risk that immigrants have of giving up their healthier dietary habits soon after arriving in the United States." It also suggests federal "efforts to provide all individuals living in the United States with the environments, knowledge, and tools needed to implement effective individual- or family-level behavioral change strategies to improve the quality of their diets and reduce sedentary behaviors. These goals will require changes at all levels of the social-ecological model through coordinated efforts among health care and social and food systems from the national to the local level."

[UWDude]

I must say, I am at the point in my life, where I am so fed up with americans being little fascists with everything, that I hope this tax passes, just so all the little fascists that cheered on the anti smoking laws and other sin taxes will finally learn they too are unhealthy little pigs, draining american society.

And it all is so funny, because way back, libertarians would argue against sin taxes, and anti-freedom laws, by pointing out how fatty foods etc were unhealthy, and it was supposed to be a tongue in cheek comment, to point out the absurdity of government controls... ..."if they tax cigarettes, why not cheeseburgers, thsoe are just as unhealthy... ha ha ha"

well, joke is on you, America, it was supposed to be a joke, but instead, it has turned to reality.

So don't worry about it, just sit back and laugh a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCxDrfs4GtM

[Henry Rogue]

The progs will make sure we are healthy even if it means they have to kill us.

[Slave Mentality]

Now this is something that may finally wake up the masses down here. I smile at the thoughts of hoardes of lardasses storming the castle in their favorite Honey Boo Boo t-shirts. Don't mess with Maw Maw's Mountain Dew ya hear? It's awn!

[Slave Mentality]

Now this is something that may finally wake up the masses down here. I smile at the thoughts of hoardes of lardasses storming the castle in their favorite Honey Boo Boo t-shirts. Don't mess with Maw Maw's Mountain Dew ya hear? It's awn!

Edit: just picture the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but a whole city's worth of them.

[Lucille]

I knew Denninger would go off on these control freaks giving such horrible diet recommendations. They totally ignore new research on what healthy eating really is. It's almost as if they're actively trying to make us fat and sick.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229853


You can argue with the facts if you'd like but the fact of the matter is that these "government stooges" have been killing you for the last five decades and food producers like it this way. How many boxes of Corn Flakes and packages of brownies would they sell otherwise?

Zero!

If you like Diabetes, blindness, chopped off toes and fingers from gangrene, heart attacks, strokes and being so damn fat and out of shape you can't run a half-mile or make it up a couple of flights of stairs without feeling like you're going to die, keep doing what you've been doing.

The medical industrial complex likes it too.