Thursday, May 1, 2008

Laws, yes.

New Jersey Lawmakers Consider Tax On Fast Food
http://wcbstv.com/local/fast.food.tax.2.712510.html

Because it was only a matter of time. Watch out, fat people!

'Sin' Tax Could Help Fund Struggling Hospitals

‘Could,’ but it won’t. It’ll go to prop up the overspending lunatics in the state legislature.

WINDSOR, N.J. (CBS) ― The sputtering economy has caused an increase in prices of many staples including gasoline, rice, ice cream, even beer.

Who was it that decided to stop new refineries from being built, halt oil drilling, decry nuclear power, and burn food for fuel? Oh yes, the Left. It seems the only law they consistently enforce is the one of unintended consequences.

Now some lawmakers in New Jersey are considering taking food taxes a step further and install a proverbial "sin" tax on fast food.

The first step in controlling behavior is to categorize it as a sin.

…The thought of taxing a Big Mac or a Wendy's burger came up at a New Jersey Hospital Association meeting where Gov. Jon S. Corzine was asked if it could be an option to help fund struggling hospitals. At the meeting, he reportedly called it a "constructive suggestion."

Meaning: “If y’all are stupid enough to let us get away with it.”


A spokesperson for the governor, however, told CBS 2 on Wednesday: "The governor is open to reasonable solutions to help solve our financing problems, but there are no plans for any fast food tax."

I’m thinking that’s damage control. Soothe the sheep, then go ahead and do it anyway. Here’s a reasonable solution: STOP OVERSPENDING, FUCKERS!


State Sen. Richard Codey has been quoted as saying a tax on fast food "is a tax on the poor." And plenty of residents agree.


The problem in cultivating a victim mentality in your populace is that anyone can play that card.


Still, some say taxing fast food isn't such a bad idea."I think this country has gone too much in the direction of fast and unhealthy food, and if people are taxed they may terminate that and turn toward more healthy foods," said West Orange resident Maureen Felix.

Except that organic food can be more dangerous to eat, because of the lack of pesticides (who is it that decries irradiation?), and is a hell of a lot more expensive. Maureen Felix lives in an area where the median home value is $420,000, and the cost of living is 41% more expensive than the national average. You think she cares about a tax on a Whopper? Something tells me Miss Felix isn’t a frequent Burger King diner.


For now, the fast food tax is just an idea. Detroit lawmakers once toyed with it, but it never passed into law.

‘Toyed’ with the idea of taking more money from us. This isn’t Monopoly money, assholes.


Speaking of unintended consequences…

Smoking ban 'has closed 100 pubs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7376279.stm

More than 100 bars in Northern Ireland have closed since the introduction of the smoking ban, it has been claimed.

I love this kind of reporting. The papers are willing to print dire predictions of global catastrophe without a shred of evidence, yet won’t make the effort to compare two lists to determine how many pubs have closed. Instead, they drop in a snide ‘it has been claimed’ to cast doubt on the whole thing.

The Federation of Retail Licensed Trade said that 7% of Northern Ireland's pubs and bars had gone out of business since the ban's introduction a year ago.

I’m sure that not all of these closings can be laid at the feet of the ban, but it would be nice to get a comparison with how many pubs closed in an average year prior to the ban.

Its chief executive Stephen Kelly said: "The much-promoted view that non-smokers would be rushing to premises has not materialised.

No shit? Some of us knew that before the bans even went into effect. Don’t expect any sort of apologies from the anti-smoking crowd, or a repeal of these asinine laws.

"We expect another 100 to close next year."

How many are opening each year to offset this? A 14% loss in any sector is bound to have serious repercussions. They might have to tax fast food to make up the difference.

...Mr Kelly also acknowledged some landlords had fared well since the ban's introduction.

Oh really? Some have made out? Are these the few pubs the non-smokers are flocking to support?

"Some of our members who set up an outdoor smoking area and put on good quality food have done really well," he said.

Wait a minute…the pubs that continued to make allowances for smokers stayed in business? Well…who’da thunk it?

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