We need the government to save us from ourselves :(

[A Black Falcon]

Health care.

First, America is not about to become a welfare state like Europe and Canada. It just won't happen, unfortunately. So what could happen? What should happen? What should happen is, somehow, get healthcare for everyone. It is tragic that 40 million Americans have no healthcare. Fourty MILLION! That's a lot! Sure, for the top 5 or 10% we have the best healthcare in the world. But for the people in the lower levels, we have the worst healthcare in the industrialized world.

And you want to make it WORSE by actually REVOKING healthcare from some of the few poor people who actually have any? Are you sane? As said already, its a false assumption that people like you have that poor people are stupid and lazy and waste money and the state's time. That is just false. Most of those people try but can't get anywhere... and have nowhere to turn when someone gets sick. As Fittisize said, what a great society THAT leads to.

Next, what can we do? Well, somehow get healthcare to everyone. Every Democratic candidate for president supports this idea... sure, the costs for their plans are all over the map, but all have a plan.

And how much will it cost? Well, even the most expensive one (Gephardt's) doesn't require any new taxes. All it requires is to get rid of the Bush tax cuts. Thats it.

And for the less expensive plans other candidates have, all those require is getting rid of the part of the tax cuts that hasn't come into effect. Or just the part for the top 5%. Just that part alone would fund a large percentage of the program... and its not like that tax cut was needed anyway.

Because its just not acceptible to allow the current situation, where millions have no health care and millions more have such a small amount of it that they can't cover much of anything when they get sick. We've got to do something! And ignore people with delusions that poor people are all evil money wasters like Weltall here.

ABF Shut the hell up!
What I meant was that back then people didnt over indulge like we do now , Sure they had Junk food back then , Candy was the patatoe chips of the day since it was so cheap to get.

But unlike today, people were more active and had to work harder for the same goods we have today. Big gut buster meals were only a yearly treat not somthing they had ever single day.Yet obesity did exist then too , maybe not as much.

I think its people lifestyles and I think society and bassically the modern lazyness of not wanting to simpily go and cut their own grass and having to pay someone to do it for them ect...

So I think blaiming Fast food solely for obesity is very short sighted.

And what I meant is that your hypothesis is flawed. As I said already. PORTIONS! PORTIONS! When you give people three times (or more) more food for the same price they WILL GET FATTER!

And as I also said. PEOPLE EAT MORE JUNK FOOD NOW! There is more of it available. And its cheap. 50 years ago the situation was quite different... it just wasn't like this. Thinking it was is just not accurate. We have more fast food places. More junk food. And significantly bigger portions-- not just fast food, of course. Normal restaurants are also giving much, much larger portions of food then ever before... and, because of increasing technology and changing society, exercising less.

It all adds up.

What? Where the hell do I promote tax cuts for rich people and the other lunacies you're talking about? I think I talked about increasing military spending once, and trust me, if you'd seen what our military's like (choppers crashing into the sea frequently, Vietnam era tanks, etc.) you'd want that too.

You're conservative. Tax cuts rigged for the rich have been their conerstone philosophy since the '80s. And they always support more money for unnecessary tanks... sure the military needs money. Just not as much as we give it...

New ideas? I've been living in magical welfareland all my life! The only "old ideas" here are those you're promoting! I'm tired of government regulating people's lives, that's it! It's something I refuse to stand for, and something I will not accept, period!

'conservative' means 'not wanting change'. And the policies you support prove that the definition is correct. As for government regulation, well I do have faith in the government... sure it does bad things, but it does so many more good ones that I support regulating things. Government is here to control the excesses that people would do without it... I happen to think that it'd be a bad world if companies could do whatever they wanted. First, they would merge so two or three companies would own essentially everything in each industry. Then, they would be able to control prices, pollute and destroy what is left of the environment, and all kinds of other bad things that we must keep from happening.

Government, of course, is also there to help the people... not let them starve or die or sickness or things like that... it IS supposed to be there for the people... no matter what people like you or Weltall say. This of course means both providing services and both collecting and trying not to waste money...

In this issue (doing things to reduce the fatness and overeating epidemics), its in both the governments' interest and the peoples' intrest that something is done. It isn't good to keep paying out huge sums in healthcare bills for fat people when its a treatable condition. And as that article said, fat people make the government pay more than thinner people. A lot more. That is not a good condition for the government to be in! So things, within bounds, should be done.

Now, I agree that the government should no laws saying "you must be this thin" or "you cannot eat those foods". That is unnacceptable... as several people said, these aren't unhealthy on a level like smoking. As DJ shows for some people they even aren't unhealthy... :) But for most they are. And for the tens of millions (or maybe over a hundred million) of people who are overweight, there are certain LIMITED measures that would help.

One thing though. You seem to be reading WAY TOO MUCH INTO THIS! This ISN'T some huge issue which is trying to ban fatty foods! Its just some small things to either reduce or try to reduce all those big healthcare bills. I don't think anyone wants so much of their taxes going to pay the healthcare bills of people who are making everyone else pay a lot more because of their health problems related to weight...

Snack taxes, higher insurance premiums for heavier people, trying to get junk food makers and fast food companies to reduce bad fats in their products (especially getting rid of trans fats), getting healthier school lunches for kids... I see nothing objectionable there!