Posted on 07/22/2010 11:15:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Won’t work in the US though, because so many obese people are already on disability (supposedly for back problems... caused by the weight), so they likely wouldn’t be taxed.
Instead, they’ll probably tax gyms or even jogging to help fund the healthcare for the fat people.
It can be argued that fit people use more health care services in a lifetime because they live longer. If this scheme is implemented in some form, the greatest unintended consequence will be that health care costs will go up, not down
something kills everyone....should they all pay premiums based on their personal susceptibilities?
they’ve played that game with car insurance.
the whole point of insurance is to lump everyone together to get an average cost of injury, to charge people at a level that the company will probably make money given that average.
that’s the best way to preserve freedom. I find it no better to have an insurance company telling me how to become their ideal little clone than having the government do it.
there are fat people and skinny people in life. there are high cholesterol folks and low cholesteral folks. High BP and low BP. Strong hearts, weak hearts.
If you approve their going after one weakness, then watch out when they come after yours.
Here's a good one...young females. They could get pregnant and that's not cheap. Old people...cuz they take too many damn pills that cost an arm and a leg.
Any high risk category, sky divers scuba divers, cave divers, rock climbers, military personnel...tax them for participating in dangerous activities that could cause expensive healthcare costs.
Beer drinkers, cigarette smokers, meat eaters, motorcyclists...tax 'em!
A couple years back, a Swedish PM called for a “man tax”, arguing that since men were overwhelming the source of domestic violence, they should pay to defray the government’s cost of dealing with the issue.
There’s really no limit to what you can propose when you cloak it in the precepts of “for the common good.”
...
I also think it would be funny to ask one of these tax proponents what they think of a tax on men and women who engage in promiscuity or other high-risk sexual activities? After all, the same basic logic applies in terms of increased health care costs to the public.
I’d estimate an average delay of 3.7 seconds before they started screaming about it not being any of the government’s business and/or calling me a Nazi. :p
(BTW, I’m obviously not serious about the idea of a tax on people who sleep around. I’m just sayin’ it would be funny to see the hypocritical leftist outrage that would result from such a proposal.)
What is life expectancy in U.S.A. for males? 78? Let's say 78. Anyone who dies after 78 should have "old age" listed on death certificate.
yitbos
Especially the 48% of earners who pay no federal income tax, eh?
Well, that's the way it used to be. The U.S.A. used to have a pretty good indigent care until it was inundated with 10 million illegal diseased aliens.
Those guys caused the bankruptcy of 80% of perfectly good emergency rooms.
Then they went on the dole and bankrupted state and local medical facilities. Now they have bankrupt the federal medical system.
yitbos
First they came for the smokers and I did nothing.......... you know the rest of it.
Since certain “lifestyles” also increase health care costs, how about a tax on those choices? I don’t think that would be as popular with liberals and socialists as taxes on smokers and overweight people.
That's the state lottery...........
It has been statistically proven that 100% of all people who consume dill pickles will die. Save the Cucumber! Tax Dill Pickles!
Amen to your post.
Pay cash. Stop using your cards for everything.
Someone yesterday made a big deal out of how they get “points or miles or some other such perks.”
Personally. The perks are not worth it at the price of government intrusion.
Plus, you think all those perks are going to go tax-free? The whole point of all the new tracking is to find the stuff floating around in the “tax gap.”
I don't know that I buy the argument that fat people cost more. There may be some higher costs up front. But then they die sooner. Old age is the real black hole for health care costs. I've never seen an obese 90 year old.
This is taking that old idiom, paying with a pound of flesh to new level.
How about a gay tax? They seem to rack up huge medical bills for STDs and other crap
It is just another government “sin tax.” It is one of the most readily accepted taxes a government can levy.
A state-sponsored tax that is added to products or services that are seen as vices, such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling. These type of taxes are levied by governments to discourage individuals from partaking in such activities without making the use of the products illegal. These taxes also provide a source of government revenue.
Investopedia explains Sin Tax
Sin taxes are typically added to liquor, cigarettes and other non-luxury items. State governments favor sin taxes because they generate an enormous amount of revenue and are usually easily accepted by the general public because they are indirect taxes that only affect those who use the products. When individual states run deficits, the sin tax is typically one of the first taxes recommended by lawmakers to help fill the budget gap.
I was thinking the same thing....:)
Only if stupid people agree to pay a Moron Tax for all the problems THEY cause. And - hint - those problems are FAR more numerous than the problems caused by so-called “fat” people.
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