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Should junk food be taxed?
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@Packerjohn , since you've several times used the '30% U.S. population with diabetes by 2050' projection, I'd like to ask you to step back and see the bigger picture of the U.S. domestic spending trends. By 2050, Social Security will have exhausted the so-called Trust Fund and will be strictly a pay-as-we-go program. It tells us each year that we can expect our Social Security income in 2050 to be about 78% of whatever it's actually promising us we'll be earning. This will have caused widespread demands for higher taxes to raise Social Security spending, which will have driven more young people out of the workforce and driven up spending for whatever system pays medical costs of poor people. By 2050, the over-taxed and unemployed voters will have demanded that all domestic transfer spending programs be ended. If you don't believe such a dystopic view, look at Venezuela.3
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Sugar should be taxed if you are on a universal health care system. Since the US isn't, then you're just taxing yourself later when you become diabetic or overweight and have complications.
If not then there should be penalties or restrictions for companies who are adding too much sugar into our food. Do we really need high fructose corn syrup in almost every loaf of bread?
You know sugar doesn't cause diabetes, right?
You know that sugar of some form is needed for the yeast to do its job on bread, right?
If not sugar then what foods do cause diabetes?
The same food that causes celiac I guess.
Food X.
It's a food variable that changes value based on the current trend in demonization.
Just because celiac is affected by gluten, it doesn't mean it's caused by gluten, and just because diabetes is affected by sugar, it doesn't mean it's caused by sugar.
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kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Can't believe it took until page 5 for someone to say this. Unless I missed it earlier.1 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »Sugar should be taxed if you are on a universal health care system. Since the US isn't, then you're just taxing yourself later when you become diabetic or overweight and have complications.
If not then there should be penalties or restrictions for companies who are adding too much sugar into our food. Do we really need high fructose corn syrup in almost every loaf of bread?
You know sugar doesn't cause diabetes, right?
You know that sugar of some form is needed for the yeast to do its job on bread, right?
If not sugar then what foods do cause diabetes?
The same food that causes celiac I guess.
No because Celiac is auto-immune. So is type 1 diabetes. However, this discussion is obviously about type 2 diabetes, which is not auto-immune. Since it wasn't made clear by previous comments, I can understand how you might have thought they meant type 1.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »Sugar should be taxed if you are on a universal health care system. Since the US isn't, then you're just taxing yourself later when you become diabetic or overweight and have complications.
If not then there should be penalties or restrictions for companies who are adding too much sugar into our food. Do we really need high fructose corn syrup in almost every loaf of bread?
You know sugar doesn't cause diabetes, right?
You know that sugar of some form is needed for the yeast to do its job on bread, right?
If not sugar then what foods do cause diabetes?
The same food that causes celiac I guess.
No because Celiac is auto-immune. So is type 1 diabetes. However, this discussion is obviously about type 2 diabetes, which is not auto-immune. Since it wasn't made clear by previous comments, I can understand how you might have thought they meant type 1.
I knew he meant type 2. It was just funny to me that any disease has to be caused by some food. Diabetes is caused by a combination of being genetically predisposed, being sedentary and being overweight, Heck, it could even be cause by some odd cosmic energy when it comes out of nowhere and hits a person with no history and no excess fat. I do know, however, that it's not caused by "sugar" (I remember it being cause by "fat" and "red meat" back when my uncle got it in the 90s). It's just too complex of a disease to pin on a single ingredient as the ultimate and definite cause.1 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »Sugar should be taxed if you are on a universal health care system. Since the US isn't, then you're just taxing yourself later when you become diabetic or overweight and have complications.
If not then there should be penalties or restrictions for companies who are adding too much sugar into our food. Do we really need high fructose corn syrup in almost every loaf of bread?
You know sugar doesn't cause diabetes, right?
You know that sugar of some form is needed for the yeast to do its job on bread, right?
If not sugar then what foods do cause diabetes?
The same food that causes celiac I guess.
No because Celiac is auto-immune. So is type 1 diabetes. However, this discussion is obviously about type 2 diabetes, which is not auto-immune. Since it wasn't made clear by previous comments, I can understand how you might have thought they meant type 1.
I knew he meant type 2. It was just funny to me that any disease has to be caused by some food. Diabetes is caused by a combination of being genetically predisposed, being sedentary and being overweight, Heck, it could even be cause by some odd cosmic energy when it comes out of nowhere and hits a person with no history and no excess fat. I do know, however, that it's not caused by "sugar" (I remember it being cause by "fat" and "red meat" back when my uncle got it in the 90s). It's just too complex of a disease to pin on a single ingredient as the ultimate and definite cause.
Kinda like "cancer". I'm waiting for them to just say "screw it, this is caused by water, deal widdit".3 -
I am trying to decide if the OP is a troll or a catfish1
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IMO yes. If anything, it might push people towards the frozen veggies or dry beans aisle instead of the mac'n cheese and chips... Although I'd rather see healthier food cheaper, obviously.0
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IMO yes. If anything, it might push people towards the frozen veggies or dry beans aisle instead of the mac'n cheese and chips... Although I'd rather see healthier food cheaper, obviously.
I'm sorry, what was the problem with macaroni and cheese again? I mean, don't get it twisted, I don't eat it, because keto, but what's the problem?1 -
No. But should not be served in school.0
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I was recently in Arizona and their produce prices made me sad. I do live in the Central Valley, though, so produce is stupid cheap, especially when in season.
Prepared food is taxed where I am, but necessities are not.
I agree that this tax would just make it harder to be poor, which is already hard enough. I disagree that Americans are over taxed though, considering we're about on par with many other countries we like to compare ourselves to; I think it has much more to do with the fact that we don't get much back for our taxes so it seems like we're over paying.1 -
All food is taxed in my state.0
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Taxing cigarettes only makes smokers complain more. No one needs that2
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I do agree that raising taxes on junk food might lead to less obesity... quite a possibility.
However, there are better alternatives for aiding in fighting the obesity epidemic. For example, why not further people's resources to gain knowledge of the "obesity epidemic", so that they then have the right knowledge to decide for themselves how much junk food they will eat.
More important it should start in school cafeterias to mandate them to only offer healthy foods, this will make a new generation in the near future, they will already be 'programmed' to eat healthy.0 -
Sugar should be taxed if you are on a universal health care system. Since the US isn't, then you're just taxing yourself later when you become diabetic or overweight and have complications.
If not then there should be penalties or restrictions for companies who are adding too much sugar into our food. Do we really need high fructose corn syrup in almost every loaf of bread?
that is ridiculous...
sugar does not cause diabetes...and your basic argument is that I should pay the tax know so that I can subsidize someone else's poor decision? What assurance do I have that this tax is actual going to go toward health care costs, and not some idiotic government program?
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kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!0 -
I was recently in Arizona and their produce prices made me sad. I do live in the Central Valley, though, so produce is stupid cheap, especially when in season.
Prepared food is taxed where I am, but necessities are not.
I agree that this tax would just make it harder to be poor, which is already hard enough. I disagree that Americans are over taxed though, considering we're about on par with many other countries we like to compare ourselves to; I think it has much more to do with the fact that we don't get much back for our taxes so it seems like we're over paying.
so when 50% of tax payers shoulder almost 100% of the tax burden they are not over taxed??????????3 -
I was recently in Arizona and their produce prices made me sad. I do live in the Central Valley, though, so produce is stupid cheap, especially when in season.
Prepared food is taxed where I am, but necessities are not.
I agree that this tax would just make it harder to be poor, which is already hard enough. I disagree that Americans are over taxed though, considering we're about on par with many other countries we like to compare ourselves to; I think it has much more to do with the fact that we don't get much back for our taxes so it seems like we're over paying.
What do you mean? We have this fantastic behemoth of a bureaucracy that takes care of the roads, protects us from teh ebil corporations, teach our kids critical thought processes in public schools...okay, I can't keep doing this.8 -
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