Videogame "Fat Tax"

[Great Rumbler]

According to the New York Daily Times a 1% "fat tax" may be implemented in New York on videogames, junk food and TV commercials. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz is the person who wishes to do add this 1% tax to New York's current 8% tax.

The citizens of New York are not happy about this and have commented on the situation.

"Who's he to determine what junk food is?" said one woman. "I predict he'll never be elected to anything again."

"A tax on junk food, video games and TV? That's pretty much everything I do," said Daniel Neuman, 16 and a Washington Heights High School student.

The chance of this tax being approved is not high and will probably not be heard until at least July 19th and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has already said he wouldn't back this law.

Now that's just silly. But, I suppose it goes along the same lines as fast food: If you take it in small amounts it fine, but if you go all out you'll wind of fat or in sometimes in the case of videogames in need of a large amount of excersice. Still, though, this tax law is very stupid. Taxing tv commercials? What the?!

Cube-Europe

[CartoonDevil]

New York taxes EVERYTHING. You have to pay to breath clean air for crying out loud!

[Dark Jaguar]

Idiotic. This is as stupid as the fat tax we all agreed was idiotic (except one person who's name I forget) a while back.

[A Black Falcon]

Its just another "snack tax"... common. The only difference is this one has videogames in it. Junk food, fine... but videogames? Huh? and TV commercials? Why those things?

[Dark Jaguar]

Ugh, what's "junk food" anyway? It would have to be food that has absolutly no health value, essentially poison, and pretty much no snacks or cookies, or ice cream, or even candy, has no health value at all. Stupid...

[A Black Falcon]

[Weltall]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon

Confused? You're the only poor soul who favors ridiculous taxes like this, so you explain it.

[Darunia]

Tax TV commercials...? What the hell does that mean, they're going to tax companies to put them on the air? That's alright with me, cuz there might be fewer of them, and I seldom buy anything because they flash it on the tele. Well, at any rate it won't pass....but just to be sure, we should sent out a special ops team and assassinate the dickweed who proposed it.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by Darunia
Tax TV commercials...? What the hell does that mean, they're going to tax companies to put them on the air? That's alright with me, cuz there might be fewer of them, and I seldom buy anything because they flash it on the tele. Well, at any rate it won't pass....but just to be sure, we should sent out a special ops team and assassinate the dickweed who proposed it.

The hell with special ops! Send your Goron Legionaires to annhilate anyone who would even for a second consider this a good idea.

*points to ABF* Start with that one!

[Dark Jaguar]

*ABF accidently steps on forces*

I think there's a problem with this plan Weltall...

[A Black Falcon]

Not really, Lego guys are pretty small too. :)

But I have armies I could call too...

Anyway, what's wrong with taxing junk food (you know, candy, cookies, chips, soda, etc...)? We've had (or at least had, I don't know if its still there, but think it is) a tax on that stuff here for many years... because those aren't things people need, so they can be taxed. You wouldn't tax basic foodstuffs, but junk food is fine because its a luxury... same with video games, I'd assume. I don't get the one on TV commercials though... is it on the companies shooting them?

[N-Man]

WARNING: OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

Goddammit. What the fuck is up with this tax shit. Can anybody tell me which generation of buffoons agreed to pay taxes? Oh well, at least I don't live in New York! No 8% tax for me!

Canadian official: Hi, we'll be taking approximately 50% of all money you own, thanks...

N-Man: ...

[Great Rumbler]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
because those aren't things people need, so they can be taxed.

So, basically what you are saying is that there should be tax on anything that people don't need? Uh...how about "NO"?

[Dark Jaguar]

Yes, indeed. Why should it be taxed? There is ALREADY sales tax, that's more than enough for EVERYTHING IN THE UNI..ted states. The government would be deciding for itself what's nessecary and not nessecary, and then enforcing it, and that my friends is that much closer to evil communism.

[A Black Falcon]

Enough? Really? Then we don't have a budget deficit crisis in all 50 states?

Didn't think so.

I didn't say that everything that you don't need should be taxed. I am saying that it should be okay to tax those things. It wouldn't be okay to put a special tax like that on basic food things like flour or something... but candy and chips? Its a luxury... so it can be taxed like any other luxury. I don't have a problem with that. The government needs the money, and its not something that anyone needs...

And anyway 1% doesn't cost you much but it makes the state a LOT of money.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
Enough? Really? Then we don't have a budget deficit crisis in all 50 states?

Didn't think so.

I didn't say that everything that you don't need should be taxed. I am saying that it should be okay to tax those things. It wouldn't be okay to put a special tax like that on basic food things like flour or something... but candy and chips? Its a luxury... so it can be taxed like any other luxury. I don't have a problem with that. The government needs the money, and its not something that anyone needs...

And anyway 1% doesn't cost you much but it makes the state a LOT of money.

Or we could start cutting waste spending on the tons of undeserved entitlement programs.

And that's all I'm going to say. I've had enough of these drawn-out political debates for a good long while.

[Dark Jaguar]

And this is the first I got involved in in a long time. My point is that the government is indeed punishing those who buy what the government is deciding is a luxery. Is a car a luxery? Now I certainly think so, but most people don't. Taxing someone beyond sales tax for a car specifically would be viewed as terrible. Some people eat what you deem as "snacks" instead of other foods. What's the next step, really? Maybe, oh right, burgers get taxed. Then what? Meat itself gets taxed, as a "luxery" alternative to sea weed and kelp!

[A Black Falcon]

You know, all kinds of things are taxed... almost everything, really... what is so horrible about junk food?

And Weltall, most of those "undeserved" programs I imagine you are talking about are probably much, much closer to being underfunded than overfunded, that's for sure. That's because the only truly overfunded government program is the military.

Sure, some have some corruption. But in most cases (this is very general, of course, but so is saying "we have lots of overfunded agencies and programs"...) they do far more good than harm.

[Darunia]

What's even stupider is how here in Massachusetts they tax you if you go to a McDonalds or any fastfood joint, and eat inside. That's a tax. Not to take it out. Why? It passes as "entertainment tax", because you sit down inside, and are somehow entertained watching fat people eat. Is that only in MA, or is it a national tax...

[Dark Jaguar]

Most, if not all, taxes like that are state taxes, not national. Don't have that here. Remind me to virus bomb your state should I happen to be there.

ABF: Isn't that murder?

DJ: You show me ONE passage in the Bible that says "thou shalt not virus bomb"!

ABF: I'm pretty sure "thou shalt not virus bomb" is implied in "thou shalt not kill".

DJ: Stupid dieties and their frickin' technicalities! If God doesn't want me to virus bomb, He could have just asked, instead of playing these mind games with me!

[A Black Falcon]

Somehow I doubt you'd find any religious or secular law that says "you can virus bomb states you don't like"... though I wish there was. Texas really needs to go... :D

[OB1]

Texas and Quebec. Sure that's a province but it's the same thing. Oh and the state that Darunia lives in. :D

[A Black Falcon]

No, I like Massachusetts! :)

Quebec I wouldn't argue about much either, though. Like Texas... :evil:

[OB1]

But can you imagine what the world would be like without Darunia?

[A Black Falcon]

True...

How about a targeted cruise missile strike?

[Great Rumbler]

Originally posted by OB1
Texas and Quebec. Sure that's a province but it's the same thing. Oh and the state that Darunia lives in. :D

You'll have to settle for just Quebec since most of my family lives in Texas.

[A Black Falcon]

Several people at TC live in Quebec too, but you don't see that stopping us... :)

[Undertow]

Mmm...hmm...deepfried videogames...great way to fatten yerself up. If they wanted to tax everything that 'causes' fat then they might as well tax couches, beds, chairs, dinner tables, and stoves. Last time I checked there was such things as 'free will'. If some loser wants to spend their entire day playing Vice City and wiping that annoying orange cheeto stuff all over their grease stained sweats then it's their loss. I don't think we should be having everything taxed because people smoke, eat, watch tv or what ever they do to themselves too much. The gov't shouldn't be controlling every aspect of peoples' lives like some kind of paternal, pushy, preachy force. I'm seriously going to move if things get worse.

Btw, wasn't one of the reasons the American revolution started in the first place because of erroneous, donkey cavity-ish taxes?

[Fittisize]

Quebec's gotta stay. Get rid of Texas.

What's wrong with a measly 1% on taxes? Boo-hoo, maybe this one percent will stop people from buying junk food Having more taxes and stuff closes the gap a bit more from rich and poor...something all countries over the world need to do.

You Amerians don't pay nearly enough taxes, anyways.

[Darunia]

You Amerians don't pay nearly enough taxes, anyways.

Maybe those Amerians dont, but we Americans pay plenty of taxes... a poor little kid cant work 51 hours in a week, and not even crack $300 take home here...(believe me, it happened to me last summer)...!

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, we have some of the lowest taxes in the first world and what do people do?

Complain that they are too high. *sigh*

You should be really happy that you got that much! In pretty much any other Western nation you'd be taking home a whole lot less than that...

Of course it'd pay for a whole lot more services, but conservatives like you don't care about silly things like that anyway.

[Undertow]

Why? Well, it's the basic principal of how mentally retarded the law is. On top of that, the odds are if it passes...they'll only rise the % in a few years, and that's less money I have to spend on cds and hookers*. Besides fill up the senate's wallets with extra spending money, how would this would close the gap between the rich and poor?

You Amerians don't pay nearly enough taxes, anyways.

Oh no, because paying 25% of your pay check to the poor, poor, gov't for them to syphon into ridiculous missguided expenses isn't enough...if you only knew.

[A Black Falcon]

Right, because the health of your citizens is irrelevant, as any good capitalist knows.

[Fittisize]

How? Actually, I guess in the states you aren't really familiar with helping to have have free health care, social security, welfare etc.

In Canada, taxes are there usually to help the people out...not to provide the senate with extra spending money, as you said. Another reason why I am proud to be a Canadian.

Free health care and welfare does close the rich/poor gap a lot.

25%?? Boo-hoo. Try 40 in Canada.

[Fittisize]

Oh, and what ABF said, too. :)

[Darunia]

Truth be told, I'm quite unhappy with capitalism...I'm sure there must be a better way out there somewhere. I don't like how the people who work the hardest (construction, laborious jobs) make the least, and those who work the least (asshole bosses at Victory Supermarkets) make the most...isn't right. I need to develop my own manifesto.

Free health care and welfare does close the rich/poor gap a lot.

You want free welfare ...? Fine with me; then you can take all the worthless Spanish people out of here and you can support them. Free health care...I dunno; that's bordering towards liberalism, which is bordering on communism.

[A Black Falcon]

Well capitalism is all we've got. There really is no other system with any real-world possibilities out there.

Anyway... at your age I wouldn't expect you to care, but when you are a bit older, if you didn't have that manager's job, wouldn't you appreciate it a LOT if when you got sick you could go to a doctor and get them to treat you for free? Without worrying about your insurance, or if you can pay (if you're among the 40 million Americans with no insurance), or anything?

No? Didn't think so, because that's the position American conservatives take. I honestly can't see how it benefits anyone other than the top 5% of society, but I don't think they care because that's all rightwing Republicans care about either.

[Great Rumbler]

Quebec's gotta stay. Get rid of Texas.

Umm...No.

What's wrong with a measly 1% on taxes?

It makes things cost more money.

Boo-hoo, maybe this one percent will stop people from buying junk food

I doubt it.

Having more taxes and stuff closes the gap a bit more from rich and poor...something all countries over the world need to do.

So, we should close the gap by making people pay more for luxuries? I'm sure the poor will love that...

Poor Person #1: Take that, rich snooty people! Now all your luxuries cost more!

Poor Person #2: But...won't is cost more for us too?

Poor Person #1: ...Oh...yeah...

You Amerians don't pay nearly enough taxes, anyways.

Maybe not, but insurance probably makes up the difference.

[Fittisize]

There's the mixed economy system in Canada...

[Fittisize]

Do poor people play videogames and go to McDonalds every day? Didn't think so.

[OB1]

I don't even have any health insurance. My dad does, but that's only because he's a WW2 veteran. Stupid American medical insurance system...

[Undertow]

Free health care and welfare does close the rich/poor gap a lot.

F-f-free health care? Lol, nope...I doubt our gov't would give us free health care even if a 'fat tax' was imposed...they'd rather supply the fine citizens of Iraq with that. Our money to help the poor is spent on welfare, which people from other countries heavily take advantage of. It would be fine to help the poor, but our gov't sets the system up so it's incredily easy to take adavantage of and to abuse. People in Cali could drive up in their convertables and suck up a welfare check if they wanted, a couple from mexico could run the boarder and have a child in the US and become official citizens...which means they can bring the rest of their family over. My mother deals with people in the hospitol she works at all the times with people who come over here for the free benifits, and are even too lazy to learn English. I could tell you a few horror stories, but I don't remember them too well right now.

25%?? Boo-hoo. Try 40 in Canada.

Yes, but we also have to pay for our own health care, and other benifits our gov't don't supply us. It also costs much more to live here, in comparison to Canada and southern states. Hell, the only way i'm going in to college is if I go into the military or take out some huge loan.

[Fittisize]

I doubt it costs more to live in USA than Canada...else due to the capitalist beliefs of putting your self interest first, many Americans would have moved a long time ago.

[Undertow]

Oh, of course you'd know because you live here.

else due to the capitalist beliefs of putting your self interest first, many Americans would have moved a long time ago.

Huh?

[Great Rumbler]

Do poor people play videogames and go to McDonalds every day? Didn't think so.

But now they will even less often, because, guess what? It costs MORE!

[Fittisize]

Come on, Undertow, Adam Smith wrote it himself.

(not an exact quote)'The people will act in their best self interest' If they are interested in having money, why live in the US?

And GR, poor people won't be spending as much money on videogames and fast food...rich people will continue to do so. They'll be losing money by doing that, thus closing the gap a bit more!

It's such a minor change, though...you need more taxes like that.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
Well capitalism is all we've got. There really is no other system with any real-world possibilities out there.

Anyway... at your age I wouldn't expect you to care, but when you are a bit older, if you didn't have that manager's job, wouldn't you appreciate it a LOT if when you got sick you could go to a doctor and get them to treat you for free? Without worrying about your insurance, or if you can pay (if you're among the 40 million Americans with no insurance), or anything?

No? Didn't think so, because that's the position American conservatives take. I honestly can't see how it benefits anyone other than the top 5% of society, but I don't think they care because that's all rightwing Republicans care about either.

Free healthcare is one of those ideas that doesn't work. Sure, the healthcare is free in Canada and not free here. However, the healthcare quality in America is leaps and bounds superior to Canada's. The rich in Canada pay for healthcare and recieve much better service than the poor and middle class, or they recieve healthcare in America if they can afford it. Simply put, Canadian healthcare is a train-wreck, and yet liberals slaver their chops hoping one day that America will be stupid enough to emulate it

There was a scandal some years back that a dog in Canada was able to get a particular medical procedure done much quicker than a person was able to. Waiting lists for even simple tests last sometimes almost a year, where it would be a month in the US.

Sorry, but I'd rather recieve better medical service than free medical service. And I DON'T want to pay for medical services for people who don't want to work. It's because we already do that medical premiums are already so high. We need to STOP these entitlements for everyone, not add more!

Yes, I'm an evil conservative who believes people should earn things in life instead of having them handed to them on a silver platter. I have the terrible conviction that people should work for a living instead of recieving everything for free while doing nothing in return. I'm Satan because I don't think the world owes anyone a living. I'm a latter-day Adolf Hitler because I think free handouts are the best way to ruin an economy and society, and because I think the idea of punishing the hard-working people to support lazy people is a retarded idea.

Let me ask you handout-advocates: Why go to school? Why even bother to achieve anything? Why not take a constitutional to one of your beloved socialist utopias in Europe or Canada and just live off of the government your entire life? There's a reason America is the strongest and richest nation in the world, and it's because we still cling to the idea that when people get a free ride, they will have no reason to ever want or need to contribute to society. The last thing I want to see is America become like Canada or Europe, and become a weak, decadent nation that can barely afford all the handouts it gives to the wasteful portions of their population.

[Undertow]

You're seeing past my point, man. What i'm trying to say is that rather than raising all sorts of taxes...just because they can...they (the gov't) should be spending their money, and the budget much, much, much, more responsibly.

And no, the tax isn't high and won't break anyone...but it's just incredibly dumb. Like I said, the principle of taxing video games because they think it's making people fat or some bollocks like that just sounds so dumb. If they're going to tax something, tax something like guns and SUVs.

edit: Thank you, Weltall.

[Great Rumbler]

And GR, poor people won't be spending as much money on videogames and fast food

And now they'll be spending even less, because everything costs MORE!

rich people will continue to do so. They'll be losing money by doing that, thus closing the gap a bit more!

How does closing the gap help the poor people who could barely afford those luxuries before and now they REALLY can't afford them, because they cost even MORE!

you need more taxes like that.

No.

[Fittisize]

Der. I've already had this debate once before. I'm not gonna go through with it once more.