"The Government War on the American Diet"

"The Happy Meal Massacre is far from the first time government has felt the need to shepherd us to a healthier lifestyle. There was Prohibition, which instead of curtailing alcohol use led to bootlegging and fueled organized crime. Then in the 1960s after a damaging government health report, cigarette and tobacco taxes turned punitive in nature, as Congress and the FCC waged an ad war, utilizing the “Fairness Doctrine” to provide free equal time for anti-smoking commercials. Taxes have climbed so high that today there is a thriving black market for cigarettes.

Recently, nanny-staters turned their attention to high-calorie soft drinks. Local and federal pressure has been applied to the beverage industry such that now we can refer to many K-12 schools as “dry” campuses. Two states have soda taxes and more are contemplating them. Never mind these drinks make up only 5.5% of the calories in an average American diet. Pay no attention to the fact that obesity continues to go up despite a 10% drop in regular soda sales over the last decade."