Smokers, obese should pay more health insurance: poll
I've got some other ones to consider.
1) Stupid people should pay more for health insurance since stupid people are hurt more and don't take care of their health as well. A simple test such as the MAT (which I scored above the 99th percentile on) should be able to be a good benchmark. If your raw score is above, say, 90, your health insurance is completely free.
2) Liberals should pay more, because they seem to think people aren't paying enough to start with.
3) People who drink should pay more, since they go out and get drunk and cause car crashes and marry Britney Spears.
4) Muslims should pay more, since they are genetically predisposed to want to accelerate the arrival of their 72-virgin eternal reward by spontaneously (but righteously) exploding.
5) People who answer polls should pay more, because it's obvious they don't have anything better to do than answer polls, and everyone knows idle hands are the devil's workshop, and so they'll obviously get into some deep trouble on down the line.
Look, I'm all for people paying for insurance based upon some sort of objective standard, but these people who keep pushing to punish one type of group for their evils and vices don't ever seem to like it when it's THEM who are being targeted for THEIR vices.
And although my suggestions are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I do find it remarkable that the booze industry DOES seem to find itself remarkably free of class-action lawsuits and calls for it to be punished for selling a dangerous product the way Big Tobacco has been pilloried. It just seems that alcohol has been a lot more of a problem than Twinkies and Big Macs, but no one seems to like the idea of a couple of extra bucks thrown onto a fifth to pay for treating alkies or drunk driver victims. Go figure.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at November 15, 2006 09:41 AMDidn't know you were old enough to know what a "fifth" was (4/5 quart, happens to be almost exactly 750 ml so standard size bottle hasn't changed).
Posted by: steevil (Dr Weevil's bro Steve) at November 15, 2006 09:46 AMI plead the Fifth...
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at November 15, 2006 09:48 AMNow I know you have lost your mind Mr. Possum. You can't go doing anything that might cut down on booze consumption. Do you have any idea how much taxes get collected on that stuff? Tobacco? See any move to ban it? Nope, same answer.
As for me, I believe libertarians should get everything free as we are obviously the next step in human evolution.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at November 15, 2006 10:52 AMWell, there gets to be a point of diminishing returns with all that tax stuff. At some point, you've only got one guy who will be able to afford to pay the $50,000,000 tax per pack, and when he dies, you're sunk.
I have an idea--how about a tax on do-gooding busybodies!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at November 15, 2006 10:59 AM