jpbikerfreak's Blog

We all know about the war on tobacco. We hear about the smoking bans going into effect all over the city, we hear cries every year in the state and federal legislature to raise the taxes on tobacco. Kansas has even considered a statewide smoking ban. All of this is done of course in the name of discouraging tobacco use.

On one hand proponents of higher taxes and more restrictions on tobacco claim they want the industry out of business. On the other hand, they have made our social programs dependent on this revenue (see: SCHIP for example). To make matters even more convoluted, we continue to subsidize tobacco farmers.

But with more and more people quitting smoking, and the rising cost of obesity - doesn't it make sense to start taxing junk food? Obesity will soon cost us more than smoking, if it doesn't already. I hereby propose bans on eating junk food in any establishment open to the public. I don't want my kids seeing someone eat a piece of pie. I also propose a $10.00 tax per bag of 5lb sugar, and a $5.00 tax on every candy bar. Furthermore, the obese should be required to pay extra on their income taxes - $50.00 for each pound of excess fat.

All of this money will of course go to the children. It can be used to fund programs like SCHIP (despite the fact that over 600,000 ADULTS receive SCHIP) and educational programs aimed at teaching kids the evils of junk food.

If you disagree with this, it means you don't like children and you think they should all be fat. So what do you say? Should we tax the crap out of junk food and ban it in public places, or let our kids die premature deaths?

[editor's note: for those who cannot seem to pick up on it, THIS IS SARCASM, but based on the truth]