Free Republic

An Illinois lawmaker says parents who have obese children should lose their state tax deduction. "It's the parents' responsibility that have obese kids," said state Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga. "Take the tax deduction away for parents that have obese kids." Cultra has not introduced legislation to deny parents the $2,000 standard tax deduction, but he floated the idea Tuesday, when lawmakers took a shot at solving the state's obesity epidemic.

Here is video of First Lady Michelle Obama giving a speech in which she talked about the importance of healthy nutrition habits as a family. She said she could identify with mothers who work and then come home "to an empty refrigerator," and "kids who don't want to eat anything you have in mind." She said in those days, "drive-thru was like heaven" because you just wanted to "give them what they want" and have a peaceful meal. But her perspective changed when their pediatrician urged her to change the family eating habits because the impact of the drive-thru food...

Howard Lederer, aka "the Professor," is a professional poker player, not a gambler. If Congress will acknowledge this distinction, it will rectify one of its recent mistakes. In 2006, Congress, cloaking cunning with moralizing, effectively outlawed Internet gambling by making it illegal for banks or credit-card companies to process payments to online gambling operations. This was more than moral pork for social conservatives. It also blocked online competitors from poaching gamblers from the nation's most aggressive promoters of gambling -- state governments. They are increasingly addicted to revenues raised by lotteries -- the 42 states that have lotteries spent $520...

THE medical establishment is in revolt against Labour's policy of denying National Health Service treatment to patients who pay privately for cancer medicines. The outcry from eminent consultants and doctors' leaders came as news emerged of two more patients whose NHS care was removed while they were dying of cancer. Baroness Ilora Finlay, president of the Royal Society of Medicine, said the issue went to the heart of the purpose of the health service. Finlay's intervention, in an article for The Sunday Times, comes after it emerged that a man dying of kidney cancer had to battle for NHS care...

(snip) This academic year, because of a new state law, Sebastian and all other California children in their first year of school must get a dental checkup by May 31. Children will receive notices from their schools about the new requirement, which took effect Jan. 1. Any checkups in the 12 months before the child enters school also fulfill the requirement. "It's a great idea," said Sebastian's mother, Lourdes Contreras of Santa Clara, who said she, 4-year-old Sebastian and his 12-year-old sister have no health insurance despite her working three jobs. "There are a lot of people who don't take...

Never mind the new crime of motorcycle stunt driving and DNA testing of litterbugs, the prize for the least-thoughtful proposal this session goes to Democratic Rep. Talibdin El-Amin of St. Louis. His House Bill 1189 makes it a crime to sell baking soda except from behind the counter with a log kept of each transaction including the following information: 1. The name and address of the purchaser; 2. The amount purchased; 3. The date of purchase; and 4. The identity of the sales person The reason for this law is that ONE of the 1001 uses of baking soda is...

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- An Ohio man whose $3,200 credit card debt mushroomed to $10,700 with interest and fees told his story Wednesday to senators, who denounced the industry for confusing billing practices and shifting interest rates. Executives of three major banks defended their credit card practices as responsible and responsive to consumers' needs in testimony at the hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' investigative subcommittee. Those from Citigroup Inc. and Chase Bank USA said their companies were eliminating some practices — including the one that hit Wesley Wannemacher of Lima, Ohio, with over-limit fees on his...

House and Senate lawmakers of both parties introduced sweeping legislation Thursday to subject tobacco to the kind of safety regulation that applies to medicines and food, and said prospects for action were the most favorable in years. "This bill is long overdue, and this is the year, I believe, that regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration is going to become law," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), a longtime nemesis of the tobacco industry who heads the Government Reform Committee. "If this gets to the House floor, [its passage] will be [by] a very large margin,"...

Hi FRPFriends. If you've opened this thread it means that you agree with the topic and you want to know "what can I do about it?" I believe the Government has gotten too out of hand when it comes to everyday, personal issues. And how did it get this far? It started with not having the ability for Line-Item-Veto's. The Supreame Court has ruled that they feel having the ability to Live-Item-Veto anything is un-Constutional. I ask, on what grounds? It seems to me that ALOT of trash is passed through on these non-related bills, signed by both sides of...

(Kraft, Mars, Campbell among companies agreeing to curbs) New York - Snacks sold in schools will have less fat, sugar and salt under the latest crackdown on junk food won by former President Clinton.Just five months after a similar agreement targeting the sale of sodas in schools, Clinton and the American Heart Association announced a deal Friday with several major food companies to make school snacks healthier. "This is voluntary," Clinton said. "They don't have to do it. But they recognize the challenge we face, and they are helping us face the first step."Clinton said the obesity problem is hurting...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's Health Department on Tuesday proposed a near ban on the use of artificial trans fat at restaurants, likening its health danger to that of lead paint. The proposal would limit the use of the artery-clogging fat, which is often used in fast foods, to 0.5 grams per serving. The proposal comes after a year-long city campaign to educate restaurants on the effects of such fats and encourage them to stop their use. The city said the voluntary campaign failed and while some of New York's more than 20,000 restaurants reduced or stopped using...

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- If you own fireworks in Montgomery or Prince George's counties, fire authorities have two options for you: pay a steep fine or go to Six Flags Great Adventure. People who get caught with fireworks, even sparklers, could face a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. But with July 4 fast approaching, both counties are offering an amnesty program -- trade in your fireworks and receive Six Flags coupons. Pete Piringer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, says last year alone, 12,000 fireworks were turned in to fire investigators.

The Pennsylvania legislature is considering bills that will prohibit smoking "in the workplace" as I've been told, and this will include restaurants. Hearings will soon be held on this. The House Bill is HB 1489 and the Senate Bill is SB602. Among the claims are solons are making is: (5) Second-hand smoke causes close to 54,000 deaths 6 annually in the United States.

Recently, in a tête-à-tête with fans, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wants to ban all sales of junk food in California schools. He disclosed he wanted vending machines that dispense fresh fruits, vegetables and milk in their place. Radical? Not really. Talk to dieticians, school counsellors, even educationists, and you will find that Schwarzenegger has probably said something very close to their heart. Says Swati Popat, director, Podar Jumbo Kids, Mumbai, "We have a whole generation of kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. And the reason for this is largely [the kind of] food [that children eat]." If you...

Earlier this year, the federal government discovered yet another crisis of catastrophic proportions -- we’re too fat. Bowing to incessant media coverage spurred on by those who continually insist that the "sky is falling," the U.S. government officially recognized that America is weighed-down in an "obesity crisis." And, what’s more, we can’t save ourselves, at least not without the help of those in Washington, or so they say. Thus, through what seemed to be an innocuous observation, the federal government promised an ominous intrusion into all our lives. By recognizing obesity as a disease, the Feds took their first definitive...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal regulators said on Thursday they will seek fines totaling $495,000 against six Clear Channel Communications Inc. radio stations for airing indecent comments made on the popular Howard Stern show. The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) said the amount represented the maximum possible under current law of $27,500 for each of the total of eighteen violations. Clear Channel announced it was pulling the show from its airwaves permanently after failing to get assurances that the program would comply with decency regulations from its syndicator -- Infinity Broadcasting, a unit of Viacom Inc. Clear Channel first...