http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/politics/food-taxes-obesity-campaign-commercial-grocery-soda-pop-20101011
Look, I'm not a fan of new taxes either. But parents these days are making a lot of really bad decisions. That's why we have a whole generation of kids growing up with unprecedented rates of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Parents have abdicated their responsibility for making kids eat right. When I was a kid, we had milk with meals, not soda. Soda was maybe a once-a-week treat, and that was just one glass. Now many kids seem to drink empty soda calories at every meal. So if the afore-mentioned hockey-mom was able, as she claims, to make good decisions, why are the disease rates among kids skyrocketing? And just who does she think is going to be paying for medical care when her type II diabetic 21 year old kid is in the hospital for amputations and dialysis? Probably won't be her. And the kid will be on Medicaid or disability, which means you and I will be footing the bill.
And while we're on the subject of diseases among kids, it's these same parents who let their kids get away with spending hours on electronic games while sitting in a chair instead of telling them "Go out and play" like my Mom did. Running, biking, climbing trees, building forts - these were the activities of my childhood, and should be the activities of kids today as well.
What has happened to parenting skills????
I don't want to hear their complaints about the tax proposal. And I don't want to pay for treating their kids' serious medical conditions in the very near future.
Besides, overpopulation is becoming more of a problem all the time. Here's my proposal. Just do away with the tax deduction for minor children. Why reward people for having more kids that have a high chance of turning into societal liabilities? Let them pay their taxes without the deduction, and give a deduction to people who don't have children and therefore aren't creating future drains on society and infrastructure. Yeah - like that'll ever happen.
JMHO
