Can you tax your way to a better body? A British town council may give it a shot. According to the Telegraph:
“An Essex council is considering levying a ‘fat tax’ of £1,000 on fast food outlets that want to open up in its area, which would hit everyone from McDonald’s to a small fish and chip shop. Barking and Dagenham Council in Essex said the money would be used to combat the growing obesity problem in the borough.”
In a way, this kind of a tax is a minor inconvenience, to be shrugged off. And yet it’s a real revenue creator, and in the future possibly a crippling burden that will drive businesses off or under. A thousand pounds (roughly $1,650) is no big deal, but when a tax is levied without fear, how long before that doubles? Or quadruples?
And what is the money going to be spent on? “initiatives to combat obesity” Oh, thanks for making that clear. I would be requesting specific plans before forking over any money.
I agree that obesity is a problem. I’m finally fighting it myself after many years. However, I don’t really think that government should be making these kinds of decisions for us, especially when it would cost a business a decent amount of money.
Every time I see a government initiative to tax the serfs in the best interest of their health and welfare, I think of P.C. Barnum’s axiom about a sucker being born every minute. Please comrade, stop helping us.