Sin Tax on Your Chalupa?

Lawmakers in New Jersey has decided that if you are going to eat fast food, you are going to pay more for it. They are suggesting a tax on fast food to help struggling hospitals. Yeah, you read that right:

The thought of taxing a Big Mac or a Wendy’s burger came up at a New Jersey Hospital Association meeting where Gov. Jon S. Corzine was asked if it could be an option to help fund struggling hospitals. At the meeting, he reportedly called it a “constructive suggestion.”

This is the typical government reaction to a problem. I wonder how many of these lawmakers considered organizing a fund-raiser or charity auction for the hospital problem. My instinct tells me that “charity” is a foreign concept to these folks.

There is some outrage over the idea, with some referring to a “sin” tax on fast food as a “tax on the poor.” But of course, the nanny-staters love the idea:

“I think this country has gone too much in the direction of fast and unhealthy food, and if people are taxed they may terminate that and turn toward more healthy foods,” said West Orange resident Maureen Felix.

Well, since Maureen thinks you shouldn’t eat a chocolate Frostie and a baked potato with chili, taxing your Extra Value Meal is a great idea. Here’s my great idea. I want a tax on morons, and I get to decide who qualifies as a moron. If Maureen Felix thinks she knows what is best for my health, it’s only fair I get to judge her intellect.

Cough it up, Felix. You and the other nanny-staters are going to fund a foundation to teach people about personal responsibility and how to mind your own business.