Quote:
Originally Posted by Bucco
HOWEVER, and to me MOST IMPORTANTLY, when do we discuss personal responsibility.....when do we discuss parenting.
It does not seem to serve us well to throw aside our inherent responsibility and leave those responsibilities to politicians of any ilk
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And here we agree in part. There is a more important role of parenting and personal responsibility in these issues. But, and it is a very important but, that does not mean that there is no role of government. This is not an either or, it is an all of the above. While we may disagree on the wisdom of this particular soda proposal, would you agree that one role of government is to regulate the sale of harmful products? Another role is to encourage positive health practices such as quitting smoking, getting exercise, weight control, avoiding sunburn, the list is lengthy. Some of this can be done by agencies tasked with getting good practices out to the public. This involves spending your tax dollars to support research and buy advertising time and pay the salaries of those employees. Some is done by regulation or tax policy. Why is some food taxed at Publix and other foods are not? Government has in many ways played a role in guiding people into making healthy life choices. What Bloomberg proposed was part of that tradition.