http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/engl...21222.html

Wondering what you all think of this.  As a Libertarian, I find taxation like this by the govt to be appalling.  Although, we see similar cases in places like San Fransisco w/ the happy meal ban:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_...91704.html

I personally don't like the govt dictating what is good and bad for me.  I know that chowing down on a greasy, fatty Big Mac may not be the best thing in the world for me, but sometimes you're just craving some of that artery clogging good stuff!   

What would you do if the govt here suddenly put a high tax on junk food?  I think in the video they said that sugary drinks were taxed as much as 60%!    I normally eat pretty healthy, but I think that what you eat should be left up to the consumer, not the govt to decide by raising taxes on unhealthy foods. 

I have a problem with the government using tax dollars for subsidizing medical care (whether it's medicare, medicaid, Obama-care, etc).

But, if we are going down the asinine path of subsidizing medical care than the only logical step is to tax unhealthy behaviors/people extra.

Although the "free-est" solution would be to eliminate these programs- or at a minimum greatly restrict the use of them.

Some of the problem is that there are a lot of people who don't want to think. They just want to be taken care of. Worse are the people who try to take advantage of the system for personal gain. In those places, a "fat tax" does make sense. Maybe we should levy a "dumb tax" for frivolous lawsuits too! I am not a fan of this kind of a tax. However, I wouldn't be opposed to a tax for health care that was required due to problems caused by obesity.

Countries like Japan have a great health care system, yet our country's collective mind is wrapped around Canada's version of it, which is indeed horrible. We the taxpayers already pay for every patient that cannot pay for their health care. Regardless of who they are or where they are from. So how should we approach this problem, if not through a government health care plan of some sort.

Posted By felinious on 09-24-2011 7:56 AM
We the taxpayers already pay for every patient that cannot pay for their health care. Regardless of who they are or where they are from. So how should we approach this problem, if not through a government health care plan of some sort.

We only pay because of bad laws. Hospitals should not be required to treat people, yet they are. That's the first failed law.

Medicaid- failed system #2

Medicare- Failed system #3

Japan's style of system might work, where people pay monthly premiums and 20% of the bill. But immediately you would see the same cry baby trash (the Medicaid freeloaders) saying they can't afford to pay 20%. After that the system would be modified to give those people more handouts, and you have a failed system again. Since Japan has much less cultural diversity they don't have the clashes from cultures that choose poor fitness choices and expect others to subsidize their lifestyles.

Simple solution- encourage a fit lifestyle in grade school. This means grading children on performance in PE classes and even failing fatties that can't perform. Eliminate all tax subsidies for medical care, remove the laws that force businesses (hospitals) to provide free services and allow people the freedom to decide for themselves what they want.

Posted By randy8876 on 09-24-2011 9:11 AM

Posted By felinious on 09-24-2011 7:56 AM
We the taxpayers already pay for every patient that cannot pay for their health care. Regardless of who they are or where they are from. So how should we approach this problem, if not through a government health care plan of some sort.

Japan's style of system might work, where people pay monthly premiums and 20% of the bill.

Since Japan has much less cultural diversity they don't have the clashes from cultures that choose poor fitness choices and expect others to subsidize their lifestyles.

I thought the Japanese had to pay 30%, not 20%, of their out of pocket expenses. 

I agree though, the Japanese culture is a made up of a much more homogeneous group of people than in the U.S.  I'm not quite sure the system that they have here would work over in the United States because of this and other factors.  The U.S. is so big in comparison to Japan, so running a nationwide healthcare system on this grand scale would be really difficult.  Our govt has never been efficient at running anything; I don't see how healthcare would be any different. 

I fear that we are going the way of Europe by letting govt intrusion into our lives little by little every day.  It wouldn't surprise me if we had a fat tax, like the Hungarian Fat Tax, in the future. We're already taxing cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline at a higher rate.  I'm not sure if those higher taxes on these commodities makes any difference.  People buy them anyways.  It's just a way for the govt to increase their revenue so they can waste it on useless programs that we don't need (or on companies like Solyndra!). 

Posted By felinious on 09-24-2011 7:56 AM

Countries like Japan have a great health care system, yet our country's collective mind is wrapped around Canada's version of it, which is indeed horrible.

We are currently stationed in Canada and have seen all of the drawbacks of a socialized health system. Due to the remote type duty we are on, we are not seen medically on base but rather out in town like all of the civilian families. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses because they don't get paid well and it is not uncommon to be on a 1-2 year wait list just to get a family care doctor. We are at the mercy of walk in clinics that are typically not clean and you never see the same doctor. There are only two hospitals to service a very large area and they are always overcrowded and a majority of patients typically leave the hospital with infections after surgeries. All medical issues are treated as a "triage" system. Anything not immediatley life threatening is looking at a 1-2 wait for surgery.

I could go on for days about how dissatisfied we have been and  how much we do not want to see a model of Canada's health system in the US. 

I know many people tend to complain about Tricare and what they don't understand is that is basically a form of socialized health care (in the sense that it is gov't provided health care). I personally have had very positive experiences with Tricare. I have also been pleased with a majority of US base hospitals we have been to but if there was ever a time i wasn't, at least I would have the option to go to a civilian doctor that is not bound by the gov't.