The attached article caught my eye as another way to “combat obesity and related health issues, the basic premise is OK but will the overall effect cause the not obese or diabetic as much distress as the targeted subjects? It is stated in studies that the well pay for the sick (it has always been that way) but can a soft drink excise tax do the job? It will be a number of years and test cases before it becomes law but during that time will any REAL data emerge that would encourage the at risk to do something on their own after all these “soft” drinks and their contents are as addictive as any illegal consumables
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Time right for soda tax, proponents say
Business groups vow to fight it
By Tobias Wall
State Capitol Bureau
The head of a public health advocacy group says now’s the right time to push again for a state tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, even though similar efforts have failed and even though proponents face a fight from business groups.

Illinois Public Health Institute CEO Elissa Bassler said last week that after years of research and discussion, “it seemed like it was reasonable to have legislation introduced.”
“We got a lot of positive feedback from legislators this year so we wanted to
move forward,” she said.
Sen. Mattie Hunter, D-Chicago, and Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, filed the Healthy Eating and Active Living Act in the Senate and House last week that would impose a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on regular and diet sodas, beverages that are less than 50 percent juice, sports drinks and ready-to-drink coffees and teas.
A Cook County Department of Public Health study published in 2011 estimated that at current consumption levels, a penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Illinois could generate more than $600 million and cut statewide consumption of those beverages by almost 150 million gallons.

Other estimates in the study suggest that the tax could play a role in a reduction of as many as 3,400 new cases of diabetes each year, saving up to $20.7 million in diabetes-related health-care costs. Obesity-related healthcare costs could be reduced by more than $150 million.
At least half of the revenue generated from the tax would be set aside to shore up Medicaid, which has been the victim of recent funding cuts. The other half would go to education and prevention programs that aim to curb obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.
The bill calls for the formation of an advisory board tasked with deciding which programs would get grant money generated by the tax.
Gabel said the board would include representatives from the State Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Public Health and other health organizations.
Pass-along costs?
Since the legislation was announced Wednesday, Hunter said she’s added four chief co-sponsors to the bill in the Senate.
but as support picks up steam, business groups with ties to the beverage industry are lining up in opposition.
“We’re not just going to sit back, we’re going to be aggressively opposing the bill,” said Illinois Beverage Association executive director Timothy Bramlet, who noted that the industry had already taken its first step in the fight by forming the Illinois Coalition Against Beverage Taxes.
The coalition argues that the added expense to distributors would put already-thin margins in danger. In addition, the tax would get passed along to consumers who would see a bump in shelf prices for sugar-sweetened beverages.
If fewer people decide to purchase those drinks, opponents say producers will have no choice but to respond to a shrinking market by slashing jobs.
Bassler said the decision was made to push for an excise tax rather than a sales tax because research shows sales taxes don’t achieve the desired effect.
“One important distinction is that (the research) authors and economists articulate that a sales tax doesn’t have an impact on consumption,” she said.
One of the Cook County study’s authors, Dr. Frank Chaloupka, professor of economics at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said, “Sales taxes aren’t really apparent to consumers” because they’re relatively low. He said that by the time consumers check out at a register, a sales tax isn’t enough to cause them to rethink the decision to buy something.
Excise taxes, on the other hand, are built into the retail price and could dissuade consumers from making the purchase in the first place, he said.
For example, under the act, a 24-pack of soda would cost an additional $2.88 — and that’s before the 6.25 percent sales tax Illinois already tacks onto soda.
Get people talking
Despite the additional revenue, agencies in line to receive grants generated by the tax wouldn’t be able to count on stable revenue year over year.
If the HEAL Act is passed into law, and if the law works as intended, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages will fall, bringing revenue generated from the tax down with it.
Gabel said she’s prepared to tell public health personnel that could be the case. It shouldn’t be a problem, she said, because workers in that sector have become accustomed to such uncertainty.
“It doesn’t worry me,” Hunter said. “The more people we educate and the more they take the products out of their diet, we can focus on the folks who need the most assistance.”
Hunter said that even if the law works perfectly, some people will still drink sugarsweetened beverages.
“That’s on them. They still have that choice,” she said.
At any rate, Hunter and Gabel expect a long and difficult fight.
“My experience with bills that have a lot of opposition is that in the first year, it’s hard to get them out of committee,” Gabel said.
However, the effort will get people talking about the issue, she said.
“As people recognize sugarsweetened beverages as one of the main sources of added calories and sugar in our diets, they’ll become more sensitive to it,”

Gabel said. Contact Tobias Wall: 782-3095, toby.wall@sj-r.com, twitter.com/reTcWall

This post was brought to my attention and I think we should all read it and receive one of the best reads on the President’s term in office so far.

 There are Obama haters aplenty, have been from Day One: Snooty left wingers have offered advice he should have, could have, would have followed to success if the president had just listened to his white betters in the media. Hate-filled right wing bigots have jostled to be the loudest claiming Obama isn’t a “real American,” not one of us, from somewhere else, a liar, a communist, a Muslim, the anti-Christ… and that’s just a start.

Economists have lined up on all sides to predict his policies would fail, that we were headed for depression, world economic collapse, and higher unemployment. Hawks told us the president was giving in to terror, maybe he was a terrorist himself. Doves told us he’s a mass murderer, using drones to target the innocent.

Civil libertarians told us Obama is creating a surveillance state, that he’s Orwell’s worst nightmare personified. That, of course is when he’s not selling us down the river to terrorists, as the Religious Right claims or turning our children into gays.

The Religious Right also tells us that the president is a baby-killer, wants to destroy marriage, hates families, and is in league with a global gay conspiracy to coddle pedophiles. Speaking of pedophiles, the Roman Catholic bishops – when not busy with settling lawsuits on behalf of abused children their priests raped – have told us that the president is anti-religion, anti-Catholic and anti-religious freedom, all because he hasn’t kowtowed to them and insisted that women are given full health coverage, including access to contraception. The president has only been forced to tell one untruth, and it’s not that everyone could keep their coverage irrespective of how bad their so-called insurance was. That was a misstatement. It’s this: He’s never been able to say that the bitterness of his opponents stems from the fact he’s black. Not everyone who opposes the president is a racist. But race embarrasses us. We try not to mention it. We pretend we’re a less race-divided country than we are.

The president can’t say that because then on top of everything else he’d be accused of being an angry black man. Pundits like to tell us how well Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan got on and worked together. Why can’t the president be like that? The two Irish-Americans on opposite sides of the issues back in the good old days were both white, that’s why. One of them wasn’t facing a party of obstruction and hatred so irrational they would risk the entire world economy to make a point, that’s why!

With the economy salvaged from the toilet, two unnecessary wars ended, America’s standing retrieved from the lowest point it’s ever been that W Bush brought us to, with our dollar taken from worthless to the world currency again, our educational system retreating from free fall, any minimally fit president who had held all that together would be ahead in the polls… if he happened to be white.

The Democrats put forward the brightest, most compelling and inspiring candidate since Franklin Roosevelt. He won. But he did not change the blighted elitist heart of the white ruling class – Left or Right – used to being in charge. I say this as a white, 61 year-old former Republican and former Evangelical leader, who was turned into an Obama supporter by my disgust with the hijacking of the Republican Party by a bunch of anti-American revolutionaries. (See my new book And God Said, “Billy!“ exploring the roots of American religious delusion, and offering a way to better understand what I mean by the term “anti-American revolutionaries.”)

Senator Obama won scholarships to America’s top academic institutions, was voted by his peers to be editor of the Harvard Law Review, is a family man with an exemplary and obviously loving marriage, has a wife who is a brilliant charismatic woman, two lovely children, is a born-again Christian comfortable with his faith, has avoided making the fast buck in the new gilded age of greed when he could have, served his community, is thoughtful, considered in his opinions, slow to anger, proved right in his judgment about the Iraq war, the economy and just about everything else, looks at every side of a question before making a decision, and is not given to grandstanding let alone defending himself. That is who I voted for twice. That is who the president still is.

And now we come to the “healthcare reform debacle.” It is a “debacle” just as the economy was a debacle. In other words it isn’t. Check the stock market lately? Check the employment numbers lately? Check the wind-down of our wars lately? Check the whereabouts of bin Laden lately? Check the falling crime rates lately? Check the fact our deficit is dropping and that we are closer to energy self sufficiency than ever.?

Turns out all the worst case forecasts about President Obama have been wrong. No, he hasn’t fixed everything. But, in spite of the racist, crazy Tea Party, the evangelical haters and the supercilious, know-it-all liberals who harass Obama, the president has done A LOT! President Obama remains the most intellectually and emotionally even-tempered and best equipped President we have had in the modern era. And even with the entire machinery of the Republican establishment and much of the media rooting for and egging on the “failure” of his Affordable Care Act, he will prevail.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expert on health care reform. But given the actual record of achievement of this president I’m betting against the bigots and the know-it-all-pundits. Based on how all the other “disasters” and “failures” this president “created”– by not listening to Tea Party/evangelical bigots and white “liberal” commentators… I’m betting President Obama gets the Affordable Care Act website fixed, survives this current chapter of the slow-motion lynching that’s characterized his presidency, and wins this round too.

Today the president’s poll numbers are down. Thirty years from now the word “Obamacare” will be right up there with the other things we take for granted as the bedrock of our civil society. In President Obama we were given two extraordinary gifts; a great President and a national mirror. Looking into that mirror we just learned who we really are.

Like our national reaction to Jackie Robinson — the American baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League — we’ve learned that one brave decent black man has had the fortitude to call us to a better place by what he did NOT say or do in his defense. The question is not will President Obama fail, but who are we?

Frank Schaeffer is a writer. His latest book — And God Said, “Billy!“ exploring the roots of American religious delusion, and offering another way to approach true spirituality, is on Kindle, iBook and NOOK for $3.99, and in paperback.

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George has done it again! After being acquitted in the murder of Trayvon martin, George Zimmerman has continued his apparent usual behavior. He has been revealed as the aggressor (not in court) in real life. The latest incident ended in his being arrested, forbidden to have weapons and ammunition. After posting bond of $9000.00, Zimmerman was freed. This latest incident had him holding his girlfriend at shotgun pint after barricading the front door. This is an excerpt of the incident:

George Zimmerman was taken into custody Monday after girlfriend Samantha Scheibe told deputies he pointed a shotgun at her during an argument.

SANFORD, Fla. — A prosecutor says George Zimmerman’s girlfriend claims he choked her about a week ago but she didn’t report it to police at the time.

The prosecutor told a judge about the allegation during a first appearance Tuesday on domestic violence-related charges of aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief.

The judge set George Zimmerman’s bond at $9,000 and ordered that he not possess guns or ammunition. He was ordered to stay away from the girlfriend’s house and wear a monitoring device.

Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted of any charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, was charged Monday with aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief after his 27-year-old girlfriend called 911.

Raw: Judge Sets Zimmerman Bond at $9,000

Samantha Scheibe claimed Zimmerman had smashed a glass table, threatened her with a shotgun and ultimately pushed her out of the house she rented.

Scheibe told deputies the ordeal started with a verbal argument and that she asked Zimmerman to leave the house. Her account in the arrest report says he began packing his belongings, including a shotgun and an assault rifle. She says she began putting his things in the living room and outside the house, and he became upset. At that point, the report says, he took the shotgun out of its case.

Zimmerman told his girlfriend to leave and smashed a pair of her sunglasses as she walked toward the front door, the report says. Scheibe told deputies he pushed her out of the house when she got close to the door.

“You point your gun at my fricking face,” Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman on a 911 call. “Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house.”

Now what do you think the jurors are thinking about the man they acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin?

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At last the legislators and critics of “Obamacare” aka the “Affordable Health Care Act” have moved in the direction of repairing the issues with the law. What if there was not an election cycle coming? ,the flaws in the law would still be the subject of political rhetoric and public outcry. It  would have made more sense to read and understand the law before enacting so that it would roll out as smooth as possible.  Instead pundits and elected officials spent public capital on trashing the act, leaving the people in limbo and under informed. There has been ample time to make adjustments and apply fixes but that valuable time was misspent much like our votes for Legislators who have been in office much too long. In order for Congress to work as well as it could, the voters need to spend less time waiting for opinions from the media and put more time in forming their own opinions through the process of accessing multiple sources of information. Opinions and information from a single source is similar to: ” when I want your opinion, I will give it to you”.

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The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) has taken up more time than required for the 535 to just take up the issue of correcting or assisting in correcting the problems with its rollout and implementation. Unfortunately these folks have gone the route of Joseph McCarthy and Estes Kefauver. Incase no one remembers or knows, these two members of Congress consumed the airwaves with what is now known as witch hunts against  Communists and Juvenile crime  (Switch blades?) due to TV programming of the time. Personally I am pretty much done hearing and listening to the same old Cr** with no solutions or offers to help. All of the folks use the phrase: “the American people” when condemning the ACA yet they never asked the American people, the small sample they get is targeted and non representative therefore who are they really representing?   The fact that they are constantly blasting the program  is enough to show me that their only issue is a Democrat who happens to be Black and intelligent has a rational thought to help the “American people”  whom they have underserved for much of their time in office. While I may be a bit biased but could the “American People” please read all of the available information and disregard the inane ranting of the ensconced politicians who by the way are not so concerned with the American people until it’s election season! Now I ask: Are You tired of it?

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It has been my opinion for several years that  business owners and managers should have worked in an industry to run it. The Current CEO of these companies has made a joke out of 2 American icons. He has sold off parts of the business to get cash and has put no money into either business as far as store upgrades and computer systems. To top it off the long term employees who are left are primarily part time and without the pension package they worked 30 plus years for in some cases. These two institutions are being mismanaged from top to bottom with the workers and store managers taking the hit.  The article below is indicative of that.

By Ashley Lutz | Business Insider – Mon, Oct 21, 2013 8:26 AM EDT

The company has shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years. The embattled company has been selling some its most profitable stores to raise money. 

Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, took poignant photos inside of New Jersey  and New York Sears locations. 

“To understand why Sears is in a ‘sell stores mode’ one must look no further than the stores themselves, where the truth is to be found,” Sozzi writes. 

His photos show the sad reality of what Sears is today. 

Sears’ mannequins are outdated in comparison with competitors like Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and JCPenney, Sozzi says. “If you are living darn near paycheck to paycheck, does this presentation excite you about making a purchase with a couple saved up electronic dollars?”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Sozzi points out that this display is confusing. “Huh? A random football themed carpet with no promotion around it?” he says.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“What’s the deal in the back of this electronics department?” Sozzi asks. “Does Best Buy look like this? Or, how about the electronics sections at Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and BJ’s Wholesale? Nope.”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The shoe department isn’t adequately stocked, with empty shelves.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“The team can’t find any way to repurpose abandoned portrait studios into something that drives traffic and sales?” Sozzi asks. “The consistently dark zones give a ‘going out of business’ feel to nearby departments that actually log some sales, which include appliances and baby.”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Lights are out in the store. “This is not great for flattering a potential customer trying on merchandise,” Sozzi writes.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“This is where the store underinvestment appears loud and ugly,” Sozzi says.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Attack of the female basics? Look at the lack of organization,” Sozzi says.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Associates weren’t on hand to help make purchases in this disorganized department, Sozzi says.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

These displays are almost totally empty.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Toys stacked on a shelf next to an escalator by the shoe department,” Sozzi writes.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Again, Sears is disorganized. “Accessories are some of the only discretionary items selling in the mall with consistency these days,” Sozzi writes. “Best of luck navigating this flea market experience.”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The men’s department is overwhelming. “Inventory excess…an entire department of it!” Sozzi says. “Who is in charge of planning and allocation?”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The beauty department also lacks innovation in comparison with competitors. “JCPenney has Sephora. Macy’s newly remodeled stores have an array of associates at the ready to assist in cosmetics, ditto Lord & Taylor,” Sozzi says. “Ulta stores are popping up everywhere. Sears, well, yeah.”

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

“Retail is detail? Not here,” Sozzi writes.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

The random clothing racks are confusing to customers and show a lack of organization.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

This mat appears to be shabby and stained.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

Sozzi left the store with an empty cart.

Brian Sozzi/Belus Capital Advisors

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