Is it just me, or does the vast majority of the health care reform rhetoric swirl around what we shouldn't do? And I'm talking about both sides here, too.
"We don't want a public option." "We don't want mandates." "We don't want higher premiums." "And we sure as hell don't want death panels."
I haven't heard so many protests since we taught my son how to fold laundry last weekend.
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So I thought I'd offer a couple of things I'd actually like to see. Starting with the top item on my health care reform wish list, I'd like to see a way to pay for it. (And, no, a blanket "Let's tax the rich" isn't gonna cut it for me.) I mean a reasonable, logical way to pay for it.
In fact, let's lean on social economics (a favorite in the Obama White House). I'd love to see a revival of the so-called junk food tax. Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus floated the idea months ago, but I think it fell off the treadmill.
I only bring this up because the independent Institute of Medicine and National Research Council just released the latest childhood obesity report, which points to an American rate of nearly 18 percent. Among other proposed remedies – such as public playgrounds, more water fountains in school hallways and fewer vending machines – the panel suggests maybe taxes can help curb the growing obesity epidemic.
It's worked for tobacco. And, God knows how we love to tax that. I think I read an expert somewhere who said that a 10 percent tax on sodas, for example, could slash consumption as much as 10 percent. Now that's a Coke and a smile.
I don't know. It's just a thought. As long as we don't start taxing coffee beans.
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