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NEWARK, N.J. (CBS) - The sputtering economy has caused an increase in prices of many staples including gasoline, rice, ice cream, even beer. Now some lawmakers in New Jersey are considering taking food taxes a step further and install a proverbial “sin” tax on fast food.

Yes, the idea of marking up your favorite fast food burger or pack of fries is actually being tossed around, and it’s not settling well with many residents.

“They’re taxing everything. Now you’re gonna tax fast food? That’s crazy,” said Newark resident Miriam Robertson.

Added Livingston resident Tina Abrahamian: “No one wants to be taxed. I mean, it’s a necessity to eat and people need to eat and with everything skyrocketing, that’s the last thing we want to tax.”

The thought of taxing a Big Mac or a Wendy’s burger came up at a New Jersey Hospital Association meeting where Gov. Jon S. Corzine was asked if it could be an option to help fund struggling hospitals. At the meeting, he reportedly called it a “constructive suggestion.”

A spokesperson for the governor, however, told CBS 2 on Wednesday:

“The governor is open to reasonable solutions to help solve our financing problems, but there are no plans for any fast food tax.”

State Sen. Richard Codey has been quoted as saying a tax on fast food “is a tax on the poor.” And plenty of residents agree.

“[It cost] $12.86 for [fries] and this little chicken wrap, and they want to tax that? You’re serious?” asked Newark resident Saladine Fuller. “If they raise it, I’ll stop buying it.”

Still, some say taxing fast food isn’t such a bad idea.

“I think this country has gone too much in the direction of fast and unhealthy food, and if people are taxed they may terminate that and turn toward more healthy foods,” said West Orange resident Maureen Felix.

For now, the fast food tax is just an idea. Detroit lawmakers once toyed with it, but it never passed into law.

Mental note… Maureen Felix of West Orange is an authoritarian.

This is so very retarded. Fast food is not cheap. It’s just easy. But so is the Qwiki Mart and Starbucks and DD. Will they tax that too? How about a progressive tax on the density of energy. That way we all are incentivized to eat cardboard and celery. They are simply looking for money and since fast food has been demonized its an easy target. If they need money why not they use some of it from their monopoly gambling ring or layoff some of those make work bureaucrats they have? Why not just stop fucking around and let the market decide where the money should flow? If a hospital is failing it should be left to fail. It’s a failed program and needs to be replaced.

British “Fat Tax” Would Mean More Intrusive Government

A “fat tax” on salty, sugary and fatty foods could save thousands of lives each year, according to a study published on Thursday. Researchers at Oxford University say that charging Value Added Tax (VAT) at 17.5 percent on foods deemed to be unhealthy would cut consumer demand and reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes. The purchase tax is already levied on a small number of products such as potato crisps, ice cream, confectionery and chocolate biscuits, but most food is exempt. The move could save an estimated 3,200 lives in Britain each year, according to the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. …Any “fat tax” might be seen as an attack on personal freedom and would weigh more heavily on poorer families, the study warned. A food tax would raise average weekly household bills by 4.6 percent or 67 pence per person. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has previously rejected the idea as an example of the “nanny state” that might push people away from healthy food.

Does anything really need to be said here? Perhaps they can give tax breaks to those who eat health or work out? The government/NHS could write up exactly how every citizen should live and tax those who don’t follow. Fines for more severe infractions and imprisonment in health camp for the worst of them. It’s for their wellbeing… and the government does pay for the healthcare so they should have a say.

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