It's still way early (for me) but David Burge is leading the sweeps for the day's best tweet with this:
@iowahawkblog David Burge
All in a day's work for the U.S. Department of Facepalm dailycaller.com/2011/06/22/fed…
Heh. I'll have to file that away for future use. Burge is right though... facepalm is the appropriate reaction after reading shit like this (from Burge's link):
The federal government has a growing interest in the eating habits of Americans for the same reason it has an interest in tobacco consumption, said Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The reason is money, because three-quarters of medical-spending is driven by chronic diseases, such as obesity and tobacco-related diseases, she said.
Sebelius’ comments came at the tail-end of Tuesday’s White House press conference where officials showcased nine new photos that must be carried on cigarette packs. Officials used a survey of 18,000 people to find the images that would have the most distressing impact on groups of smokers, including young smokers and mothers of young kids.
I long ago espoused the theory that the most efficient way to get smokers to quit would be to offer them, as incentive, the money spent by government in trying to get them to do so. I know damn well a lump sum of, say, $30,000 would probably have a better chance to get me to toss my smokes than a photo on each pack I buy.
ReplyDeleteFull snarky (yet serious) essay on the subject, which you may have already seen:
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2007/01/cutting-into-coughers.html
I'm seriously thinking that there's a lot of job-justification going on at the federal level. Oh, wait... how'd this country ever get along without the bloatocracy, when all we had was a Postmaster General, Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy and those necessary to run those departments?
ReplyDeleteJim: I was pretty sure I'd read your linked piece but a lack of comment from YrsTrly seems to indicate I didn't. Good job with that.
ReplyDeleteIvan: I think the answer to your question is "much better."
And don't forget the fact that the SS Administration very much in fact DEPENDS (has the stats cranked into their projections) on the maj. percentage of the some 700,000 who die annually from smoking causes who die prior to eligibility for SS benefits. Without those premature deaths, SS would be in an EVEN BIGGER hole than it is now. LOL!
ReplyDelete