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Here's the bad news. You're fat. You have been eating all those good things
that are available to Americans; soft drinks, snack foods, not to mention an
abundance of steaks, chops, chicken, pork and fish. You have some nerve
eating well. And you have packed on those pounds. Some, not me, but some
people are saying you're "obese."
You may not look like Tom Cruise or Michael Jordan, but according to the
federal government's Body Mass Index (BMI) scale, the physiques of these
celebrities are described in terms usually reserved for the Rosie O'Donnell's
of the world.
On the bright side, you'll be happy to know that your ever-expanding
waistline is not your fault. It turns out that you are merely a victim of the
savvy marketing of a sadistic food and beverage industry. One that preys on
your weaknesses, and most unconscionably, your children's weaknesses, to the
degree that it's all you can do to resist cramming one more Big Mac in your
fat face.
This obesity diagnosis has been provided free of charge; your tax dollars at
work. However, if the trial lawyers and "fat police" have their way, this
seemingly benign absurdity could end up eating away at the liberty of anyone
with taste buds and a stomach. If you're a smoker, you are probably saying:
"I told you so." That's because the same movement that raped and pillaged
"Big Tobacco" is now gearing up to take on Big Food, Big Restaurant and Big
Beverage. Indeed, the blueprints for attack are identical.
First, trial lawyers and their comrades in government work to create a class
of victims. In this case, it's any self-loathing porker who unwittingly
orders an extra-generous portion at a restaurant, only to find himself
incapable of putting down the fork when the first cheese fry is rejected by
his brimming esophagus. However, in this instance, "victims" were lacking so
in 1998 the U.S. government modified the BMI scale to automatically classify
an additional 30 million Americans as overweight and obese. Snap your fingers
and you have victims and an "epidemic."
The epidemic needs to be sold to its "victims." For this task, tofu junkies,
animal rights organizations, anti-corporate groups, haters of capitalism and
the reliably hysterical media are employed. "There is no difference between
Ronald McDonald and Joe Camel," says Dr. Kelly Brownell who works closely
with the radical anti-consumer group "Center for Science in the Public
Interest" (CSPI). "Children are to the obesity field what second-hand smoke
was to tobacco," he wails. Brownell works CSPI is the leader of the "twinkie
tax" brigade. Michael Jacobson, CSPI's founder says, "We could envision taxes
on butter, potato chips, whole milk, cheeses and meat." People like Brownell
and Jacobson think Americans are incapable of making their own dietary
decisions.
Once the political atmosphere is tolerable, legislation is proposed to cure
the ill; usually in the form of taxes. For instance, Deborah Ortiz, a State
Senator from California, has proposed a special tax on soft drinks to
"diminish the human and economic costs of obesity in this state." (Sound
familiar, Joe Camel?) Luckily for soda drinkers in California, her proposal
recently failed.
Kooks like Ms. Ortiz have their cheerleaders in the media to back them up and
the next time, Coca Cola drinkers might not be so lucky. "The Obesity
Epidemic in America is getting worse; Americans continue to get fatter,"
cries the Harris Poll. "Americans are living large and eating larger,"
Michael Booth of The Denver Post reports, "Burger joints, convenience stores
and even highbrow bistros are now offering portions up to seven times as big
as government serving suggestions for a healthy diet." Oh, the horror.
Soon, frustrated fatties, fed-up with their diets, will seek legal counsel
against Ronald McDonald and his greedy cohorts. The restaurant and beverage
industries will be forced into paying massive settlements, to balance the
scales of justice, of course. The price of a delicious Big Mac will skyrocket
due to fat taxes and offsetting legal costs. Meanwhile, the only people able
to afford Big Macs will be the newly rich, portly plaintiffs who started the
whole mess.
Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) was one of the few on Capitol Hill to foresee this
debacle. During the tobacco trials, he asked, "Where does this end? If we
don't hold people accountable for decisions they make, does it end with
tobacco? Does it end with alcohol? Does it end with fattening foods?"
There is no obesity epidemic in America. Only fat bureaucrats and tubby
lawyers feasting on a growing number of people who refuse to take
responsibility for their actions.
Peyton Knight is the Legislative Affairs Director of the American Policy
Center. The Center, an activist, grassroots think tank is headquartered in
Warrenton, VA. The Center maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org.
Published by permission.
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