Quote Originally Posted by Just Vuk Again View Post
How 'bout things like AIDS?
Numbers with AIDS compared to obese persons is tiny. These days most who are HIV+ve are relatively healthy.
HIV is not just a disease spread by sexual contact. It is also spread by any blood to blood or fluid to fluid contacts.

Quote Originally Posted by Sarmatian View Post
Smokers already pay huge tax when they buy cigarettes. I don't see why another should be added.

That would also be applicable to food. Heavy tax on unhealthy food, no more 3$ meals in McDonald's. If people were to pay 15$ for a meal, they wouldn't go there so much. Taxing fat people more is... complicated and can easily backfire.
Cigarette smokers not only kill themselves, but those around them too. In the UK the tax could be said to be there to help the health service; in America since there is no National health I guess the governemt just pockets the money.

You've made the example with McD's rather simplistic. If they were informed that taxes go up with foods over a certain level of calories they'd most likely do something to reduce the calorific content; similarly if it was also percentage of fat they'd reduce this to avoid the $15 meal; since all other competitors have the same rules this would not unfairly penalise them - any more than selling the junk does in the first place.