I'm not too worked up over it, for three reasons:

I don't drink much soda.
It has as much chance as his previous budget proposals (DOA for you non-NYers.)
Bloomberg has the patent on being a mommy's boy. How could we tell the governor from the mayor?

"Why should people like me have to pay?"

Because that's the only way to keep the food police at bay.

As someone who's always maintained a healthy weight, I certainly resent the fact that a big slice of my taxes goes towards paying billions of $ in obesity-related health-care costs for people who can't say no to a dozen double-fudge brownies. But there is something I resent much more, and that is the Nanny State's Food Police telling me what I can and can't eat. Didn't you blog a while ago about some fatass councilors who banned all fast-food restaurants from South LA? Didn't Parson Bloomberg ban trans fats from all restaurants in NYC? And back in California, school bake sales have been shut down because, heaven forbid, most of the goodies on offer had more than 10% of their calories as saturated fats:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/us/10bake.html?ref=fitnessandnutrition

Fat people may lack willpower, but Food Nazis have no respect for free will at all. In a free & prosperous country, it's sadly inevitable that millions of people will gorge themselves till they're obese. If no one is willing to pick up the tab, then the Nanny State will respond by sending the Food Police out to dictate to EVERYONE what they can and can't eat. You may not like subsidizing the fatso next door, but the alternative is worse.

Amy- I also recommend the book "French Women Don't Get Fat". One of the points is when you do eat, make it worthwhile. Quality, not quantity. For dessert, don't strap on a feedbag of Hersheys' Kisses, have just one absolutely exquisite piece of high-end chocolate. Savor it, take your time, and appreciate it for the indulgence and pampering that it is. Pity that you've just stocked up on your stash of French chocolat, this guy's reeeaaaalllly good-

www.chocolatbydaniel.com

The plan will come with a host of revenue raisers -- increased taxes on hospitals and insurance policies, for instance.

A more desperate state has to tax those things that cannot be avoided. The government wants to tax you when you become sick and must use a hospital, or have some savings and must buy insurance. The insurance is needed to avoid an inflated medical price "system" encouraged by the already high and hidden taxes of "mandatory care". You can escape this tax by being too poor to pay, or having no community roots to pin you down for collection.

Nice system the politicians are building for us, even before having the power to enforce "universal" health care. Guess who is going to pay for that? The tax won't be avoidable by giving up sugared soda.

IMHO, the food police are a worse alternative than a little extra tax. There are those out there that would take those fine french chocolates of yours because you simply cannot be trusted to have only one or two pieces. Never mind how much will power you have. Oh and Coffee?? Don't you know that coffee is a drug and can have serious long term effects on your health?

http://www.painstudy.com/PainDrugs/p28.htm

LOL Truth- one tiny detail about such fabulous chocolates. They're about $2.50 apiece. Can't say I'd plow through a box with no compunction. I have eaten three pieces in one sitting (purely research and feedback, for sure, wink wink) but it's overload. Not for the faint of heart

I've found that with chocolate, I can get my fix with one or two squares of the 65% or more cacao, but I can eat milk chocolate all night long and not get a thing from it.

So those $2.49 "premium" bars work out to be much cheaper than a bag of M&Ms.

Everyone also needs to read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes which I believe Amy has recommended before. I was astounded when I read the truth about the studies that scientists and government interpreted to show that lowfat diets are a good idea... I felt fucking lied to, and promptly changed the way I eat.

I guess willpower is important, but people wouldn't feel the need to gorge at all if they simply ate enough fat. The obesity tax on non-diet soda is crap anyway, not just for its nannying aspects--doesn't consuming the artifical shit instead of the regular (not that that's good for you either) increase your risk of obesity?

Just indulged in a couple squares of Ghirardelli 60% cacao Espresso Escape... not bad at all.

Thanks a lot, Amy, now I want a brownie! And there are none in my home.

As for chocolate, I like *good* chocolate. I am 100% on the side of the Europeans in their fight to keep the definition of chocolate pure in their realm. I don't want anything hydrogenated, partially or not, in my chocolate. But I think it's the all-too-American peanut butter Lindor truffles that are my favorite. Good thing I don't have any around right now...

...wait, were we supposed to be discussing something all serious and philosophical and stuff?

Thanks for the recommendation. I just ordered a pound and a pound of the Mali Blue Moon. I plan on using that as a dessert coffee. I couldn't find the cookies, but in all honesty, I usually prefer my own. I use chunks of Swiss or German chocolate (60-70% cacao; costs a small fortune to order online, but worth it.) and lots of real fatty butter. One will satisfy any chocolate craving, two will make you comatose. :-)

The only willpower I exercise over food is never buying anything that is not low-carb. I have been known to eat an entire 1.5 quart box of high-fat, high-calorie, low-carb ice cream at one sitting, just for the heck of it. It has no effect on me (except a bit of nausea and a strong urge to dance to the radio), so I just do not bother to restrain myself. Though I should cut down on the Atkins bars. They are a bit pricey.

I will join the chorus plugging Good Calories, Bad Calories. That book changed my life. After reading it I finally decided to give the low-carb thing a try. Lost 70 lbs, and my health improved in a number of ways. Hard chairs kinda hurt now, though. Everything comes at a price.

I am a bit of an extremist. My typical diet is somewhere between Atkins induction and the Inuit diet. I just avoid moderate or high glycemic foods, and eat whatever I crave, on the theory that my body will tell me what it needs. I crave very little in the way of veggies, and no fruit whatsoever. But I do take vitamins, to compensate for the processed foods I eat.

But I'm flying off on a tangent. Sorry about that.

Im of two minds with the soda issue. First, I should note that I rarely drink it and then only Hansen's. I like to use cheep cola as a stripper for clients with chemical sensitivity. Cola (Coke works best) is much better than any "natural" stripper, in that it doesn't create any fumes and works at least as well, sometimes better than actual stripper.

I just don't feel compelled to actually put it in my body after using it for several years now.

And as a supporter of taxing cigarettes (Im a smoker) even more than they are now, to offset healthcare costs, I would be hypocritical if I didn't support taxes on the junk foods. Whether we are moderate or not, there are certain foods that have no nutritional value and have negative health consequences. If you use moderation, then the tax really isn't going to have much effect on you. If you aren't moderate, the soda you drink is having a negative effect.

Its the very same idea I have about alcohol and currently illicit drugs. That which isn't legal, legalize. Then tax the shit out of it and we're good to go.

But then, I also support UHC...

Gotta run.

Dagoba chocolate. They are the only company that makes a 100% cacao bar I can eat plain (in very, very small pieces). Simple sugars make my mind race; Dagoba 100% gives me all the drug with none of the side effects.

http://www.dagobachocolate.com/about/our_story.asp

I made 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes with butter creme frosting last night, for daughter #2's after school art class. They're having an actual Christmas party today! Not so the regular school class, pretty much because of the "no baked goods, no junk food" policy that the schools have adopted. When my girls were little, I used to bake brownies or cupcakes or cookies, the night before their birthdays, for them to bring to school and share with their friends on their birthdays. I think #1 was in 5th or 6th grade when the school system put the kibosh on that. That year I made Jell-O jigglers. It just wasn't the same. o.O

Oh I know, Amy! Moderation in all things is key - that's why my girls are slender and can eat whatever they want whenever they want. Me, I'm getting back into an exercise routine because the menopause is trying to kick my ass, but I refuse to let it! I'm among the ranks of the unemployed as of Dec. 31st (company is closing the research lab up here in New Haven), so I'm getting a nice severance, taking a little time off, and re-tooling my routine so I can get more time in at the gym and be a little more productive. This last 20 lbs I have to lose has been a real bitch, but the dr. says it's because of menopause, and I'm thinking "but with the all the hot flashes and sweating I'm doing, why is it still so hard to get rid of that weight?" I'm working on it though, and I can still run with the big dogs, so I don't have to stay on the porch just yet! o.O

Chocoholics: go to Aldi's, look for Moser-Roth 70% cocoa. Not too pricey, conviently wrapped in 5, 25g rectangles/package. Eat 25g a day and loose weight like I have: down 20 lbs (10% of body wt) over the last year. Although the 9 hours/week excercise might also be contributing.......

Ah, the superiority of those that have never had a serious weight problem. It's so simple! I guess all those obese people are just too stupid to figure it out. Maybe next you could lecture us on how autism and ADHD are caused by bad parenting, or how people suffering from depression should just cheer up and quit whining.

Hmmm. Maybe you'd like a little cheese with that w(h)ine? o.O

As a person who works out no fewer than 5 days a week (4 days = a bad week) and refuses to eat carbs after 6 PM and doesn't drink any soda (like it - but the fake sugar is evil, I am sure of it)...it's tough to watch people pollute their bodies.

That said, I also find it tough to ignore research showing that eating is an addiction - creating brain chemical releases identical to those w/ compulsive gambling, alcoholism, etc. The brain and body react to the stimulus of food like a heroin addict to smack (don't even know if that's a term for it).

So that would be like telling an alkie "just stop drinking" - for some it may be possible. But for most people it requires acknowledgment of the addiction, detox, therapy, etc. It's a life long struggle. I don't know anyone who would deny this is the reality for a booze addict. Same for a heroin addict - we all know that the addict can't simply wake up and say "no more"...the body is dependent on it.

It's easy to see a person eating bad food and assume that s/he is lazy, stupid and fat due to bad choices but it's a little bit deeper than that for some people. Some people just seriously don't have the will power and it's a bit pathetic...but more people than you think probably have a food addiction and it needs to be treated as such.

I've never had an actual weight issue. Just some body image issues. I've always been healthy. I work really hard at it and it's difficult to accept that the food choices people make aren't necessarily due to some character flaw - b/c to me it seems so obvious what needs to be done.

Try telling that to a homeless meth addict, though...

Funny random thing: my latest blog posting if of the most unhealthy dinner ever. Moderation is key - you can eat whatever you want, just not all the time!!

More food for thought:

No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office. - Covert Bailey (fitness expert)

o.O

schambers- I didn't take the blog as being detrimental to obese people. I took it as a legitimate concern. Why should people like Amy have to pay for something that isn't her fault?
I think we all understand that obesity isn't necessarily caused by lack of will power. There are hundreds of legit medical conditions that can cause it.
I happen to suffer from two of them. Yes, I am "obese" and Yes, I know it's no ones fault but my own bad genes. However, I don't ask for pity and I certainly don't ask for people (read taxpayers) to pay my medical bills.
That being said, I still think raising the taxes a bit is a whole lot better than food police.

If I may, I'd just like to point out what a crazy place California is because of direct democracy. They're always have votes about one thing or another. Usually, the people vote to mandate government spending, and then they knee-cap their government with another voter initiative to limit taxation. Accordingly, they have a budget crisis every few years. I think with the last one they passed an initiative to finance themselves with a bond issue. Crazy.