USE YOUR BROWSER'S "BACK" BUTTON TO RETURN TO DOCUMENT. Subject: Release: Fat Tax Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 18:15:17 -0700 From: announce@lp.org To: announce@lp.org (Libertarian Party announcements list) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ======================================= NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 World Wide Web: www.LP.org ======================================= For release: December 8, 1999 ======================================= For additional information: George Getz, Press Secretary Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com ======================================= Hide the ham: Health fanatics want to slap a "fat tax" on your favorite foods WASHINGTON, DC -- That scrumptious meal you had for Thanksgiving -- and the festive feast you're probably planning for Christmas -- may get hit with a "fat tax" if certain public health fanatics get their way, the Libertarian Party warned today. "Hide the ham, guard the gravy, and hold on to your hamburger: The calorie cops are coming after us," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "If we don't stop them, the grease Gestapo will do to fatty foods what they've already done to cigarettes." In recent months, the "fat tax" -- a new federal tax that would be levied against high-calorie and high-fat foods -- has been endorsed by several organizations as a solution to a national "obesity epidemic." "Using language strikingly similar to the anti-tobacco jihad, the Calorie KGB is demanding that the government launch a war against fatty foods -- for our own good, of course," said Dasbach. "They want to put a sin tax on food, while fattening the federal coffers." How shrill has this crusade for a fat-free America become? Here are some recent examples: * At a conference in Washington, DC on "Obesity: The Public Health Crisis," the president of the American Obesity Association (AOA) demanded new "fat taxes" to fund anti-obesity educational programs. Obesity is a "national emergency," said the AOA -- and a "ticking time bomb in the health care system." * The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) called obesity "the second-leading cause of preventable death in the United States after smoking," and said, "The time has come to develop a national comprehensive strategy -- analogous to those already in place for tobacco use." * Kelly Brownell of Yale University said obesity is being encouraged by a "toxic food environment" -- such as restaurants that offer "high-calorie foods, heavily promoted and good tasting." Brownell also said: "There is no difference to me between Joe Camel and Ronald McDonald," and endorsed a "twinkie tax" on high-calorie food to discourage overeating. * The Center for Science in the Public Interest said a "fat tax" is not enough, and called for a ban on "junk food" advertising, and mandatory calorie labels on restaurant menus. * A study by Policy Analysis, Inc. concluded that overweight people cost employers $12.7 billion in sick time and additional insurance coverage annually. Other studies claim that 300,000 Americans die from being overweight each year. What's next? Lawsuits against fast-food restaurants, suggested New York Times columnist Daniel Akst. Such legal action could compensate the "victims" of greasy hamburgers and french fries, he said. But such suggestions ignore the right of Americans to choose what they want to eat -- and the right of restaurants to serve it, said Dasbach. "What you eat, and how much you eat, are matters of personal preference and personal responsibility," he said. "Our eating habits shouldn't be the government's business -- and bureaucrats shouldn't be allowed to micromanage our menus or tax our twinkies in the name of so-called public health. If revenue-hungry politicians want to put something on a starvation diet, they can start with the federal budget."