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"Land of the free?" No longer. Politicians are hell-bent on controlling every facet of our private lives. Even if patrons, employees, and owners want smoking in a bar, it's verboten. If a person sick and in pain wants the relief marijuana offer, no dice. If a woman is pregnant by accident -- or even by rape -- the pols say "No abortion." In San Francisco, no toys in "Happy Meals" and in New York large sugared drinks are on the way out. You don't have to be a libertarian to condemn these and other intrusions into our private lives.
right. you just have to be what we used to call an american.
All you need is a little common sense and the courage to cherish the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I appreciate the "concern" that our politicians have for our health, but stay the hell away from making laws that are dictatorial! MYOFB. To those who are tired of our state, local and federal government telling us how to live our daily lives, fight back ... all you have to lose is nothing ... I believe we still have the right to protest.
I don't judge New York,the State or the city by bloomberg...I worked on bridges there in 97,oneonta area and the people there are salt of the earth.To bloomberg:Your pathetic son,your a little narrow minded wannabe tyrant...To the Good People of NYC...Ride this CLOWN outta town on a rail...complete with tar and plumage...:)
There are other unintended consequences...that this regulation makes buying things more expensive AND generating more trash.
Everyone knows that when you buy the larger product, you get more for your money. Sometimes, 12 extra ounces (so 32 ounce) is only 10 cents more from a 20 oz beverage.
Sometimes when I go somewhere and have someone with me, we split the beverage so we buy the extra large and then divide it up in extra cups or something. I am sure I am not the only one who saves money this was in this economy. So, for instead, I would have to pay full price for two beverages than to pay full price for one and maybe 10 cents more for 3/4 of another. (So yes, we use an extra paper cup, but that is far less waste than an extra bottle made of plastic or glass.)
Likewise, if I am going to be outside, I would buy something like Gatorade...if on a hike, this lasts me the whole afternoon if I buy the large 32 oz size. Gatorade does have a lot of sugars (sucrose, dextrose) in addition to salts. So, under this new law, I have to instead buy two smaller 16 oz bottles if Gatorade is also affected. That is extra plastic in the environment from the same amount of liquid. Not to mention the fact that you pay more for the 16 oz per ounce than you do for the 32 oz per ounce.
One other note, I can't buy the diet drinks or the ones that contain sucralose (splenda) as I am extremely sensitive to it so I can only get the drinks with natural sugars. So that's not fair as I cannot help that due to biology, that diet drinks are out.
Instead, I think these politicians need to understand why obesity is happening. It is not just regulating everyone's diet but instead, it is a product of society, of advertising, of the too many people watching too much TV and not moving after work...there are a number of things.
Why not take a different approach...how is this for a wild idea. Have weigh-ins each year where if you maintain a certain weight adjusting for age, then you get so much of a discount off your taxes. There would be no penalty if you gain weight like if you had a bad year or a baby but if you maintain your weight you get a 10% discount on how much you owe or if you lose weight, you get 25% discount that year. That might make people start exercising more than trying to fight obesity by regulating the size of beverages which will just generate more trash for the landfill and cost low income people to have to spend more money for the same amount of product.
Here's a wild idea... get government the hell out of people's personal lives.
When I was growing up in the 50's, we had very few, if any, fast food restaurants in our city. When we went to a movie (usually a drive-in), my mom would make home-made hamburgers to take with us to eat when we got there. We didn't get things like french fries, soda, etc., and we weren't having major problems in society with obesity. It's only been since fast food restaurants came on the scene that obesity became a problem; however, fast food restaurants came because what used to be a family where only the father worked....now BOTH parents have to work in order to survive. So, fast food restaurants became the lifeblood of families. Until we get this under control, change our economy so that both parents don't ALWAYS have to work in order to support their family, and add more physical therapy through our schools, we will still have obesity. Our government, especially the Republicans, are working hard to curb costs in our schools, but what they are doing is actually ADDING to the obesity problem.
A friend of mine is a supervisor in a school cafeteria.....and although she's a Registered Nutritionist, she has no say in how food is prepared or what is being prepared. She MUST cook it the way the school tells her to with no thought to allowing her to come up with alternate methods to make the food healthier or tastier. This is a real crime, and I can only blame our politicians for what's going on. It's amazing that these "Super PAC's" can spend so darn much money to influence the voters, when that kind of money would go further if it were used to help our schools, our infrastructure, provide jobs, etc. The money that Romney, for example, will spend to "attempt" to get elected would allow several schools to hire more teachers, provide more classes for exercise purposes, allow for better food and alternate methods of preparing the food to make it healthier. I just can't understand where the "Super PACS" get their money, yet we have no money for the things that really matter! I guess it just goes to prove that the wealthy will end up running our country, which is so far from what our Founding Fathers envisioned that it's ridiculous!!
Just my opinion.....but you have to admit, I make some sense!
When I was growing up in the 50's, we had very few, if any, fast food restaurants in our city. When we went to a movie (usually a drive-in), my mom would make home-made hamburgers to take with us to eat when we got there. We didn't get things like french fries, soda, etc., and we weren't having major problems in society with obesity. It's only been since fast food restaurants came on the scene that obesity became a problem; however, fast food restaurants came because what used to be a family where only the father worked....now BOTH parents have to work in order to survive. So, fast food restaurants became the lifeblood of families. Until we get this under control, change our economy so that both parents don't ALWAYS have to work in order to support their family, and add more physical therapy through our schools, we will still have obesity. Our government, especially the Republicans, are working hard to curb costs in our schools, but what they are doing is actually ADDING to the obesity problem.
A friend of mine is a supervisor in a school cafeteria.....and although she's a Registered Nutritionist, she has no say in how food is prepared or what is being prepared. She MUST cook it the way the school tells her to with no thought to allowing her to come up with alternate methods to make the food healthier or tastier. This is a real crime, and I can only blame our politicians for what's going on. It's amazing that these "Super PAC's" can spend so darn much money to influence the voters, when that kind of money would go further if it were used to help our schools, our infrastructure, provide jobs, etc. The money that Romney, for example, will spend to "attempt" to get elected would allow several schools to hire more teachers, provide more classes for exercise purposes, allow for better food and alternate methods of preparing the food to make it healthier. I just can't understand where the "Super PACS" get their money, yet we have no money for the things that really matter! I guess it just goes to prove that the wealthy will end up running our country, which is so far from what our Founding Fathers envisioned that it's ridiculous!!
Just my opinion.....but you have to admit, I make some sense!
More Government control to tell us what we can eat or drink. wow they taking away our freedom of choice now, so what is next telling us what clothing we can wear every day or how much water we can drink .
Someone please get the REVOLUTION started so we can rid ourselves of the government NAZI GOONS!!
how does this nitwit continue to be elected to office??
This is prohibition all over again; we know how well THAT worked out. This is just a feeble attempt to increase tax revenue to the city. People will just buy more of the smaller sizes which, in turn, increases revenue to the vendor and tax dollars to the city.
It's ridiculous...period.
And it generates more trash...buying more plastic bottles means more plastic in the environment and landfills that does not get recycled.
Often, if I buy a large beverage, it is to save money because I put the rest of it in the fridge for the next day.
What's next???? Ban Dunkin Donuts??? Starbucks Latte's??? I see the mayors point, but don't agree with the proposed ban.
The mayor has no real point, other than raising taxes.
Good point...a 16 oz Starbuck's Caffe Mocha, nonfat milk, no whipped cream has 43 g carbs (33 g added sugar). A 16 oz Lemon Ice Tea Snapple has only 46 g. A 16 oz Orange Juice has 48 g. A 20 oz Caffe Mocha, nonfat milk, no whipped cream has 54 g carbs (41 g added sugar)
By that logic, Bloomberg should also go after Starbuck's and ban anything larger than a Grande (16 oz).
I don't agree with it. I am just pointing out the illogical points to the argument of selectively banning some products but not all which puts some companies that employ people at a disadvantage.
References:
http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/foods-from-starbucks/9520/2
JRS, you get it. Most obesity is caused by consuming far above what is required for health, and not enough activity to burn it off. Jockeying around on the size of bottles accomplishes nothing. I just have a hard time believing that supposedly smart people are so lacking in common sense. Bloomberg didn't make his money with silly ideas like this one.
I'm as opposed to obesity as the next person, but singling out individual items to ban is ridiculous. Why not ban all snack foods? Bakery items? Red meat? Can't & shouldn't be done.
although I agree with the theory of this law; trying to help people eat more healthy....governemnt has NO right to go sticking their noses into people's eating habits with a law....what's next, outlaw cheeseburgers, french fries, ice cream, baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, red meat. This is going too far.
Mayor Bloomberg obviously has no understanding of how dangerous diet soda is! Diet soda caused my daughter to have epileptic-type seizures, and she began to lose her vision in both eyes. She stopped her one can a day of diet soda and recovered. Diet soda causes many serious problems and 2 studies have shown that it causes weight gain and makes diabetes worse. A recent study shows it causes heart attacks and strokes. Another study shows how it causes cancer.And those are only a few of the problems from diet soda.
What are your sources for this information?
A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine shows that drinking diet soda every day is linked with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.
The researchers found that people who reported drinking diet soda on a daily basis had a 43 percent higher risk of having a vascular event than people who didn't drink any soda, even when accounting for conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/diet-soda-stroke-heart-attack_n_1247195.html
On top of that, diet drinks taste terrible. Something that tastes that bad, could not be good for anyone. I quit drinking them decades ago, water tastes much better. People pay far more for that stuff per gallon than gasoline, and no one complains about the cola profits being outrageous, just the oil companies who make around 10% profit. The profit on a diet cola is at least 70%, if not more, they are selling you 95% tap water.
Drink more Beer. This Bud's for you!!!
I don't want the government in my body! To clarify I'm referring to my arteries.
The Obama government is in the rear end of all our bodies,now, and it promises to get much worse.
Dasvet
What does this have to do with Obama? Bloomberg isn't even a Democrat!
Seems to me it's the Republicans who are trying to control what we do with our bodies...
Bloomberg is a twat, who cannot mind his own business.
Bloomberg is a blooming idiot...
So - limit the size of the drink you can purchase to only 16 ounces. Fine.
Now - will you also limit the number of 16 ounce drinks a person can buy? Or limit their number of free refills?
mr. bloomberg your an effin moron
Mayor Bloomberg is sounds like a crooked capitalist politician who probably owns stock in a cup making factory/company. Smaller sizes will ultimately create a need to sell more cups (servings) to chronic over eater/drinkers!
Does Mr. Bloomberg really think all his money makes him the dictator of NYC? Why not just make people responsible versus trying to control their irresponsible decisions? I know I'm sick of paying for people's stupidity.
How stupid is this? lets worry about the size of a soda some one can buy when there's so much more important things to worry about. Like jobs, housing market and the debt crises. But instead lets take away some more of the American people's rights. Whats next? candy bars, fried food or maybe tell us how much toilet paper we can use to wipe our a$$. ( save a tree ) We do not need more big brother government, besides they can't even run their own house.
This is an incredible overreach by a "Nanny State" minded government! Freedom means the right to make bad decisions, whether that be to eat what you like, drink alcohol, smoke, have a soda, (or even use drugs). Is the Mayor everyones mother? I hope this idiocy is stopped. One very practical point - in general, the smaller the package the more expensive per ounce, so thank you Mr Mayor for pushing everyone to the more expensive serving sizes. Maybe they shoud change the name of the office from Mayor to Dictator.
At some delis, one is forced to either buy a 20 or 24 ounce soda or do without a lunchtime beverage entirely. For many of us, this is too much. If you want more than 16 ounces of soda, you can always buy two.
No one is "forcing" you to buy anything. If you are unhappy with the size drinks being offered at one business, than take your business elsewhere. This is a truly disgusting argument to try and use to defend such an appalling overreach of government.
DrRWKline, are you really a Dr. or just stupid. If you have to purchase a 20/24 oz drink, who or what is forcing you to drink it all???