Because some eating is a sin.
WINDSOR, N.J. (CBS) ― The sputtering economy has caused an increase in prices of many staples including gasoline, rice, ice cream, even beer. Now some lawmakers in New Jersey are considering taking food taxes a step further and install a proverbial “sin” tax on fast food. [...]
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.” [...]
“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.
¡Ay, caramba!
Comment by maggie katzen on 4/30 @ 10:58 pm #
w007! more jobs for accountants!
Comment by Jeff G. on 4/30 @ 11:01 pm #
If one of the founding fathers were show up at some of these meetings, he would giggle.
Until he realized what was happening wasn’t a put on — and that the government actually thinks it appropriate to dictate what people choose to eat (and what private businesses choose to sell). At which point, he’d probably break out his musket. Only to be arrested for not having the proper carry permit, and for possessing an “assault weapon.”
Comment by happyfeet on 4/30 @ 11:13 pm #
You can’t even pump your own gas in New Jersey.
Comment by happyfeet on 4/30 @ 11:15 pm #
Oh. If you’re from New Jersey and reading this … um, nevermind. It’s kind of a concept.
Comment by Topsecretk9 on 4/30 @ 11:23 pm #
So, they will be telling me when to abort too?
Comment by Patrick on 4/30 @ 11:46 pm #
Terminate? Telling choice of words, that.
Comment by Sean M. on 5/1 @ 2:53 am #
So, the answer to a “sputtering economy” and higher prices on a lot of stuff is, of course, more taxes. Especially on cheap food.
Yeah, that ought to work out.
And what kind of genius thinks a tax–one which is supposed to help fund “struggling hospitals,” no less–is a good idea for raising revenues when the tax is, in turn, supposed to turn people away from buying the products being taxed? Hello? Anybody else see the logical flaw there?
Oh, right. These are Democrats we’re talking about. Nevermind.
Comment by thor on 5/1 @ 4:02 am #
I goddamn Absolut swiggin’ Marxists! They don’t even recognize the proletarian nutrition needs nor the reactionary means of planned production foods made to scale, foods that come in a uniform bag or box, indiscriminate to the nature of a customer’s economic class.
Must all that is solid melt into thin air and all that is holy be profaned?
If Marx was alive he’d take a sickle to these neo-psuedo-Marxist bourgeoisie. Blasphemy, blasphemy, everywhere there’s class struggle blasphemy.
Comment by Darth Bacon on 5/1 @ 4:07 am #
The reason small-l liberals hate trans-fats, and all that hydrogen-y goodness in food, is that they hate poor people.
See, that stuff is what makes the shelf-stable things lower-income people rely upon shelf stable. Small-l liberals hate these goods for the same reason they hate Wal Mart- choice. The potential that anyone may choose something other than what they think should be chosen is anathema. All food should be made by earnest neo-hippies ‘homesteading’ on the former farms of real farmers, and should spoil within hours of production. If you don’t have nine dollars for a small morsel of Mozzarella di Bufala, then screw you. You should have been born into a more advantaged Identity Group.
McDonald’s, same as Wal Mart, gives lower-income consumers what they want- as opposed to what liberals think they should have.
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/1 @ 4:30 am #
Huh. I thought they had casinos in New Jersey.
Comment by syn on 5/1 @ 4:46 am #
“The reason small-l liberals hate trans-fats, and all that hydrogen-y goodness in food, is that they hate poor people.”
Certainly explains why the organic supermarket industry (Whole Foods, Wild Oats to name a few) charge 30% higher prices when marketing ‘organic’ food in their stores; Liberals don’t particarily care to be seen in the same establishments with poor people since it destroys their image that they are perfect people living in a perfect world.
Comment by Cowboy on 5/1 @ 4:51 am #
Where is John Galt?
[Hey, I know it's pretentious, but I read all 1100 pages with my students, and so I deserve to say it at least once. Right?]
Comment by N. O'Brain on 5/1 @ 4:58 am #
[imagine a New Yorker cartoon....]
(One caveman talking to another.)
“Something’s just not rightâ€â€our air is clean, our water is pure, we all get plenty of exercise, everything we eat is organic and free-range, and yet nobody lives past thirty.â€Â
Comment by Brett on 5/1 @ 6:27 am #
Taxation should never be used to encourage or discourage this or that behavior. Such laws amount to Bills of Attainder.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 5/1 @ 6:27 am #
Thirteen years ago, this was an April Fool’s joke for a Detroit-area radio talk show host.
Comment by Carin BA, MD, PhD on 5/1 @ 6:32 am #
Fast food is actually already pretty expensive. I don’t see what a tax will do. I mean, I do – nothing. I have 5 kids and we NEVER (hardly ever) eat fast food. A trip to McDonalds cost us upwards of $35. We could eat Steak (grilled at home) for that price.
Comment by Michael_The_Rock on 5/1 @ 6:35 am #
Later on, these same freekin morons will be wondering what happened to all the jobs for teens. They’ll be screaming at the old retired people to give up their minimum wage supplemental income and die already so the kids don’t trash the neighborhood out of boredom.
Comment by thor on 5/1 @ 6:46 am #
Steak eating elitist!
Two words of advice – dollar menu
Comment by RTO Trainer on 5/1 @ 6:47 am #
The function of taxation in policy is to encourage or discourage behavior in the population. The purpose is to generate revenue, but the function attains no matter what. It’s a feature.
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/1 @ 6:54 am #
You know what part of this really pisses me off? The “even beer” part.
Comment by B Moe on 5/1 @ 6:55 am #
The reason small-l liberals hate trans-fats, and all that hydrogen-y goodness in food, is that they hate poor people.
NEW JERSEY TAXES FAST FOOD
WOMEN, CHILDREN HARDEST HIT
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 5/1 @ 6:55 am #
Eat a Big Mac, go to prison.
I’m glad I make my own beer.
Comment by Enoch_Root - twp on 5/1 @ 7:28 am #
“Spandex jackets… one for everyone!”
Comment by Carin- on 5/1 @ 7:32 am #
Assuming I could convince my children to forgo a happy meal, I’d still be paying upwards of $21. I could still feed my children better at home.
But, anyway, aren’t you proving my point? That a tax would actually do little, if nothing, to curb (poor people) from eating there?
Comment by N. O'Brain on 5/1 @ 7:52 am #
Think of all the people who still smoke.
Comment by JHoward on 5/1 @ 7:54 am #
How hard would it be to make foisting an unconstitutional law on the place a crime?
Yeah, executing idea’s packed with difficulty, but surely it can’t be any more convoluted than what these assholes are already.
A shorter version would be to just vote the jerk out. Nah. Too much work.
Comment by Slartibartfast on 5/2 @ 7:31 am #
No flash suppressor.
No pistol grip.
No extended magazine.
No folding stock.
No grenate launcher attachment point.
Bayonet mount: possibly.
I think he’d have a case for getting it back, but he’d probably have to work throught he courts, losing consortium with his musket for several months. During which time he’d probably be jailed for sexual harassment, for holding doors open and such.
Comment by Slartibartfast on 5/2 @ 7:31 am #
No flash suppressor.
No pistol grip.
No extended magazine.
No folding stock.
No grenate launcher attachment point.
Bayonet mount: possibly.
I think he’d have a case for getting it back, but he’d probably have to work throught he courts, losing consortium with his musket for several months. During which time he’d probably be jailed for sexual harassment, for holding doors open and such.