NoFoodTax - Another BS group trying to fool the public

[spidey07]

Food should not be taxed at all. It's one the very few absolute necessities in life. Don't tax food.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Lets tax abortions, any treatment for an STD, not brushing your teeth, fast cars big cars small cars (All unsafe), eating too much fish (mercury), sitting the sun too long, mountain biking, etc.. I could go on forever.. all unsafe.. TAX IT!

 

[ShawnD1]

Food should not be taxed at all. It's one the very few absolute necessities in life. Don't tax food.

This. Putting a sin tax on food is just evil. The whole point of subsidizing food in the first place was to drive the cost of food down so even poor people can afford it.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

This. Putting a sin tax on food is just evil. The whole point of subsidizing food in the first place was to drive the cost of food down so even poor people can afford it.

Actually, the whole point of subsidizing food in the 1st place was to help the farmers, who were (and still are) growing more than they can sell, in some cases.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Tip for YOU: Republican != Conservative.

I never said it did. You have an interesting way of attempting to comprehend English.

 

[ShawnD1]

Actually, the whole point of subsidizing food in the 1st place was to help the farmers, who were (and still are) growing more than they can sell, in some cases.

My understanding is that the current situation is caused by a whole bunch of things. These would go in order of when they happen:
-US food is too expensive
-open free trade and import food from other countries
-local farmer cannot compete against third world farmers in terms of price
-to keep local farmers employed, either tax imported food or subsidize local farmers
-since the original problem was food being too expensive, subsidizing farmers makes more sense

I think Canada went the other way. Food here is not subsidized, or at least not in the same way. Canada's way of keeping farmers employed was to create an artificial shortage of food which jacks the price up. The American way of subsidizing everything is a lot better. To get an idea of what not-subsidized food looks like, here's how much shit costs in Canada: link (1 pound is 454g)

Hang on to those subsidies and do not tax your food. Expensive food is bad. It hurts poor people a lot more than it hurts everyone else.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

<snip>

What each one of us has stated doesn't contradict the other. I guess I was looking at from a more historical perspective. One of the sad aspects of the current food issue in America is that perfectly good foods - especially grains - rots by the ton in warehouses. And the growers have been subsidized. And even the people who believe that this food should be given to the less fortunate can't resolve the political and logistical issues involved. And there isn't even a point in shipping this stuff to other countries where large populations are starving because we all know what happens when corrupt politicians, warlords, and military juntas get hold of provisions. :'(

 

[ShawnD1]

Strange problem indeed. One of the issues about free trade on food is that it brings food prices to the rate Americans and Europeans are willing to pay. From the US perspective, food from a place like Uganda is really really cheap. When first world countries are buying that food, it brings the price up to first world prices. Poor people in Uganda then see their food prices go through the roof while extra food in first world countries is thrown out or rots.

 

[theeedude]

Food should not be taxed at all. It's one the very few absolute necessities in life. Don't tax food.

Refined sugar is not an absolute necessity of life. It is detrimental to our health and our food supply is tainted with it.

 

[ShawnD1]

Refined sugar is not an absolute necessity of life. It is detrimental to our health and our food supply is tainted with it.

Innuit can survive Canada's winters without natural gas or heating oil. We should make heating oil illegal because it's not an essential part of life.

 

[Hacp]

Refined sugar is not an absolute necessity of life. It is detrimental to our health and our food supply is tainted with it.

Sugar is the best bang for the buck. It is one of the quickest ways to 2000 calories at the cheapest prices. More sugar equals more energy which equals more productivity.

 

[theeedude]

Innuit can survive Canada's winters without natural gas or heating oil. We should make heating oil illegal because it's not an essential part of life.

Heating, in various forms is a necessity of life. Refined sugar is not. It is a waste of good food, if anything. All those fields of corn used to create high fructose corn syrup could feed many more people with healthy food instead of creating an obesity and diabetes epidemic.

 

[theeedude]

Sugar is the best bang for the buck. It is one of the quickest ways to 2000 calories at the cheapest prices. More sugar equals more energy which equals more productivity.

It's the quickest way to obesity and metabolic disease. It's not the best bang for the buck by a long shot.

 

[Hacp]

It's the quickest way to obesity and metabolic disease. It's not the best bang for the buck by a long shot.

Its the best way to solve hunger. Just throw 2000 calories at them. If we fed our poor in sugar, we'd save billions in food stamp money! Remember, 1/8 Americans are on food stamps. Now they want to tax it!

 

[IronWing]

Its the best way to solve hunger. Just throw 2000 calories at them. If we fed our poor in sugar, we'd save billions in food stamp money! Remember, 1/8 Americans are on food stamps. Now they want to tax it!

Oh god. Hacp, are you going to take the all sugar diet challenge? If you can go for a month eating nothing but refined sugar and water, I'll buy you a burger at the establishment of your choice (total cost not to exceed $6).

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Tax that shit while there's still some skinny chicks left to bang.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100923/ap_on_he_me/eu_oecd_getting_fatter

Some of you folks need some edumacation on sugar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

 

[theeedude]

Its the best way to solve hunger. Just throw 2000 calories at them. If we fed our poor in sugar, we'd save billions in food stamp money! Remember, 1/8 Americans are on food stamps. Now they want to tax it!

OK, you can just eat 2000 calories of sugar a day for a while and report to us how it works out for you.

 

[Hacp]

Oh god. Hacp, are you going to take the all sugar diet challenge? If you can go for a month eating nothing but refined sugar and water, I'll buy you a burger at the establishment of your choice (total cost not to exceed $6).

Of course I'm not. I'm not on food stamps so I can afford to eat more luxurious products like instant noodles and canned ravioli.

 

[Double Trouble]

Taxing sugar and HFC as "unsafe" is plain bullshit. Why stop there? Why single out those things? How about meat? Fish (mercury)? Basically, there is nothing ineherently unhealthy about sugar, sugary drinks or HFC etc -- provided the intake is in moderation. The same holds true for just about any product. There's no freakin' way you're going to be able to define what is 'healthy' and what is not and tax things accordingly with any form of logic.

For example, bananas are perfectly healthy fruit, but happen to contain a lot of sugar. Should we tax bananas? How about grapes? ... and on and on and on...

The other thing is that as soon as you define something as 'unhealthy' and start to tax it, the manufacturers will just come up with some other formula that is probably even more unhealthy anyway. Not to mention that taxation probably doesn't make much of a dent in soda consumption. Do you really think the guy at McDonalds will not order the coke because it costs 5c more? Get real.

This is just another government control and money grab, and the suckers are falling for it hook line and sinker.

 

[her209]

Food should not be taxed at all. It's one the very few absolute necessities in life. Don't tax food.

Here in Commiefornia, unprepared foods aren't taxed.

 

[her209]

My understanding is that the current situation is caused by a whole bunch of things. These would go in order of when they happen:
-US food is too expensive
-open free trade and import food from other countries
-local farmer cannot compete against third world farmers in terms of price
-to keep local farmers employed, either tax imported food or subsidize local farmers
-since the original problem was food being too expensive, subsidizing farmers makes more sense

I think Canada went the other way. Food here is not subsidized, or at least not in the same way. Canada's way of keeping farmers employed was to create an artificial shortage of food which jacks the price up. The American way of subsidizing everything is a lot better. To get an idea of what not-subsidized food looks like, here's how much shit costs in Canada: link (1 pound is 454g)

Hang on to those subsidies and do not tax your food. Expensive food is bad. It hurts poor people a lot more than it hurts everyone else.

How do you make sure all the farmers aren't all growing the food that fetches the highest price (maximizing profits) and when it comes time to sell to market, the price plummets thus bankrupting them?

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Liberals are authoritarians. They feel that they know better than you do and thus should be making your decisions. They also want your money to spend on stupid stuff. It is always about the money with this crowd. They have never met a tax they did not like...as long as they think it isn't going to affect them too much.

Conservatives are authoritarians. They feel that they know better than you do and thus should be making your decisions. They also want your money to spend on stupid stuff. It is always about the money with this crowd. They have never met an unfunded liability they did not like...as long as they think it isn't going to affect them too much.

 

[Hacp]

Conservatives are authoritarians. They feel that they know better than you do and thus should be making your decisions. They also want your money to spend on stupid stuff. It is always about the money with this crowd. They have never met an unfunded liability they did not like...as long as they think it isn't going to affect them too much.

Wow, total fail.

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Indeed, Hacp.

Perhaps you would care to explain how Conservatives intended to pay for all the off the books war expenses and the prescription drug benefit plan aka the largest unfunded liability in the history of this nation?

Surely such an epic fail has a simple rebuttal.

 

[Craig234]

Liberals are authoritarians. They feel that they know better than you do and thus should be making your decisions. They also want your money to spend on stupid stuff. It is always about the money with this crowd. They have never met a tax they did not like...as long as they think it isn't going to affect them too much.

I notice about 95% of attacks on liberals are idiocy and/or based on lies, saying more about the attacker and little to nothing about liberals. The other 5% I don't remember.