Quote:
Originally Posted by cwd
actually, if you want some facts on what is causing health care costs to rise, then look to diet, smoking, and other preventable chronic diseases.
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases.” Not all of these diseases are linked to diet — there’s smoking, for instance — but many, if not most, of them are.
We’re spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet."
Yes, exercise has its risks, but I don't think you can put it into the same boat when it comes to the costs and consequences like smoking or eating the wrong foods. If you have some facts (That's not debatable, that's a fact.) showing the high cost to health care that exercise is causing, it would be cool to share.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html |
I think you may be missing my point... I'm not saying that smoking isn't DRASTICALLY worse for you than these things I listed.
What I'm saying is the government now has a blanket excuse for why they COULD tax those things if they wanted... and they do, they want to tax everything possible. That much should be evident so don't be surprised when you see some new taxes you don't agree with but the guy next to you doesn't care because it doesn't effect him...