Thanks,Nana

Grandma Bloomberg meet Grandpa Patterson.

I don’t know about you, but I’m fed up with politicians who want to legislate society into living a healthier lifestyle, always under the pretense that it “for our own good”. First our dear mayor Michael Bloomberg bans trans fats from restaurants. Then he requires fast food providers to post the caloric intake of their foods. And let’s not forget his fixation on banning smoking. It is now easier to smoke a joint in New York City than it is to smoke a cigarette . . . And no, I am not a smoker.

Now New York State Governor David Patterson has decided that he will out-grandparent Mayor Bloomberg by pushing for a “fat tax”. (http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/12/the-doctor-is-in-cyberspace.html) According to New York Daily News columnist Elizabeth Benjamin, this tax will involve an “18 percent levy on sugary drinks like non-diet soda.” New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines openly admits that the purpose of this tax is to, in Benjamin’s words, “disincentivize sugary drinks, which research shows are the top culprit in the childhood obesity epidemic, and encourage people to return to 1970s-era levels of consumption of other, less fattening beverages like milk and water.”

Instead of worrying about our cholesterol and the size of our waistlines, our esteemed Mayor and Governor should focus on more important things, such as the following:

$ Why the MTA continues to lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually, resulting in ever rising fares paid by commuters?

$ Why it is that NYC public school teachers are forced to hold classes in hallways because of limited space? Isn’t the money generated from Lotto supposed to go towards our schools? Where instead is that money being spent?

$ What rules were bent and what “incentives” were given to the Yankees to encourage the franchise to build its new stadium in the Bronx?

Maybe if our elected officials spent more time on pressing issues such as these, they would be less inclined to worry about our vices.


Donald Tremblay