Our current system works pretty well if you are either a corporate slave, rich, over 65, completely destitute, retired military/government or perfectly healthy. If you are not in one of those categories, you are doomed.
Junk food is bad for you, our children are frequently eating it as a substitute for real food because it's both cheap and convenient. A bunch of overweight/obese adults that have practically zero impulse control also eat it nonstop and then burden our health care / emergency response systems with things related to their weight that shouldn't have happened.
If you want, the government could simply stop subsidizing all the junk that goes into junk food. That would have the same effect of raising the price of junk food, while also saving all of US tax dollars. It would of course upset the junk food corporations to no longer have their profits subsidized.
Yeah, privatize everything: military, education, health care, fire & police departments, really, anything you can think of, because the gubmint is evuhl. "More and more of our healthcare is taken over the government"....utter bollocks. What the hell country are you living in? And why is it that countries that do have a socialized hc system have higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, and higher levels of happiness in general?
Curious Texan, if you have Medicare or can afford private insurance, your argument is fucking invalid.
Healthcare is a human goddamn right and providing it to Americans as a matter of promoting the common good is well within the scope of the Constitution.
I should add that my husband is correct about the subsidies. And it's also true that the public needs a lot more education on exactly how these corporations operate and how thoroughly they run the government.
I was trying to figure out what you meant by subsidized junk food, so I googled "subsidized junk food" and found this article from 2004.
I find it interesting that it was in that left-wing bastion of San Francisco where food stamps were first allowed to be used at fast food restaurants through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT - like Lone Star Cards here in Texas). So who's subsidizing junk food?
I also found it interesting that among the 19 Bay-area restaurants participating in EBT, most were Carl's Jr and Subway. I used to live in California, so I'm well aware that Carl's Jr offers some pretty good salads. And although I don't remember how their prices compare to the less healthy food on the menu, I can tell you from recent experience that the Veggie Delight sandwich at Subway is the cheapest one on the menu. Add to that the fact that you can substitute apple slices for chips if you choose the meal instead of the a la carte sandwich.
You can blame evil corporations and their government enablers all you want, but the fact of the matter is that people ultimately make their own choices about what they put in their bodies. And I'm OK with that. But when the taxpayer is paying for your health care, don't be surprised if Big Brother comes after you to pay a little back for your unhealthy appetites.
I wasn't referring to the actual junk food itself receiving a subsidy. I'm referring to the ingredients in the junk food, namely CORN.. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Corn is highly subsidized by the federal government. The same corn subsidies allow the MEAT industry to feed all our cattle/pigs/chickens/etc.. corn as well. Cows are not supposed to be eating corn. Almost everything we eat in America has CORN in it.. and it's taxpayer funded.
ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. And neither will racist,homophobic, or misogynistic comments. I do not mind if you disagree, but make your case in a decent manner.
Political Cartoon is by Bob Englehart in The Hartford Courant.
Ain't government-run universal health care great?
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you talking about? This cartoon has nothing to do with government-run health care.
ReplyDeleteBut to answer your question, I do think single-payer government-run universal health care would be much better than our current badly-broken system.
Ted:
ReplyDeleteYou really don't think that when
1) more and more of our healthcare is taken over by the government; and
2) childhood obesity leads to more chronic diseases among our youth, leading to
3) higher and higher costs and greater deficits, that
4) taxes on junk food will increase, based on studies like this?
Government always taxes behavior it wants to discourage. That's why the tax code comprises about 80,000 pages.
Free health care isn't free.
Our current system works pretty well if you are either a corporate slave, rich, over 65, completely destitute, retired military/government or perfectly healthy. If you are not in one of those categories, you are doomed.
ReplyDeleteCT..
ReplyDeleteJunk food is bad for you, our children are frequently eating it as a substitute for real food because it's both cheap and convenient. A bunch of overweight/obese adults that have practically zero impulse control also eat it nonstop and then burden our health care / emergency response systems with things related to their weight that shouldn't have happened.
If you want, the government could simply stop subsidizing all the junk that goes into junk food. That would have the same effect of raising the price of junk food, while also saving all of US tax dollars. It would of course upset the junk food corporations to no longer have their profits subsidized.
Yeah, privatize everything: military, education, health care, fire & police departments, really, anything you can think of, because the gubmint is evuhl. "More and more of our healthcare is taken over the government"....utter bollocks. What the hell country are you living in? And why is it that countries that do have a socialized hc system have higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, and higher levels of happiness in general?
ReplyDeleteCurious Texan, if you have Medicare or can afford private insurance, your argument is fucking invalid.
Healthcare is a human goddamn right and providing it to Americans as a matter of promoting the common good is well within the scope of the Constitution.
Yeah I really do think that.
I should add that my husband is correct about the subsidies. And it's also true that the public needs a lot more education on exactly how these corporations operate and how thoroughly they run the government.
ReplyDeleteChris:
ReplyDeleteI was trying to figure out what you meant by subsidized junk food, so I googled "subsidized junk food" and found this article from 2004.
I find it interesting that it was in that left-wing bastion of San Francisco where food stamps were first allowed to be used at fast food restaurants through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT - like Lone Star Cards here in Texas). So who's subsidizing junk food?
I also found it interesting that among the 19 Bay-area restaurants participating in EBT, most were Carl's Jr and Subway. I used to live in California, so I'm well aware that Carl's Jr offers some pretty good salads. And although I don't remember how their prices compare to the less healthy food on the menu, I can tell you from recent experience that the Veggie Delight sandwich at Subway is the cheapest one on the menu. Add to that the fact that you can substitute apple slices for chips if you choose the meal instead of the a la carte sandwich.
You can blame evil corporations and their government enablers all you want, but the fact of the matter is that people ultimately make their own choices about what they put in their bodies. And I'm OK with that. But when the taxpayer is paying for your health care, don't be surprised if Big Brother comes after you to pay a little back for your unhealthy appetites.
I wasn't referring to the actual junk food itself receiving a subsidy. I'm referring to the ingredients in the junk food, namely CORN.. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Corn is highly subsidized by the federal government. The same corn subsidies allow the MEAT industry to feed all our cattle/pigs/chickens/etc.. corn as well. Cows are not supposed to be eating corn. Almost everything we eat in America has CORN in it.. and it's taxpayer funded.
ReplyDelete