Nanny State or Good Governance?

I’m a bit surprised there hasn’t been much of an uproar about the recent decision by the FDA to target trans fats in the food chain. I would guess it’s because the government agency hasn’t said what it’s going to do about it. Did you really think it was a coincidence that McDonalds and other fast food started producing healthy menus? It wouldn’t surprise me if the fast food chemists are cooking up another unhealthy genetic substitute to take its place.

I did hear Sean Hannity blaming liberals, the president, the first lady and big government about the possibility of the FDA cracking down on trans fats but that’s all part of his daily monologue.

I love my trans fats but I know I’m not supposed to have them and a lazy person like myself will benefit if the FDA takes them off the shelf. I know the sermon “ you don’t need government, you should be able to do that for yourself.” We’ve had this argument with the tobacco companies, big tobacco lost and we are better off for it.

What’s the FDA supposed to do? Does the agency look at the data from their medical research and settle for another label attached to the food (which nobody reads), pat themselves on the back and say, “we’ve done our job?” if that’s the case then we should abolish that agency because the fast food chemists can do that. They know exactly what goes into their products and the long lasting damage it will do.

You can make that two-way argument about jobs. You can say the extra regulations will cost jobs or you can say the eating unhealthy foods will lead to absenteeism and an early grave. I haven’t even mentioned the higher cost of health care for the company.

When the mayor of New York issued the ban of the 32oz soda, it was more about the message than anything else. That was considered an overreach and for good reason. New York was also the one of the first large cities to ban smoking in public places. At first the citizens balked and cautioned the lawmakers about the loss of tourism revenue but they learned to love the law.

There are some people starting to complain about paying for items in their health care policy that they will never use. That happens all the time in our everyday life when childless couples complain about paying for school taxes etc. The complainers equate this a nanny state “one size fits all” formula.  If you buy a new car you might be paying extra for the extra child belt, and several safety devices you will never use but are required to have. When the seat belt law was being discussed the car manufacturers squawked and complained bitterly about going bankrupt if the law was passed. Today, we are glad seat beats are standard equiptment.