Ill. lawmaker says raising obese kids should cost parents at tax time

[The Straight Story]

Ill. lawmaker says raising obese kids should cost parents at tax time

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • An Illinois lawmaker says parents who have obese children should lose their state tax deduction.

"It's the parents' responsibility that have obese kids," said state Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga. "Take the tax deduction away for parents that have obese kids."

Cultra has not introduced legislation to deny parents the $2,000 standard tax deduction, but he floated the idea Tuesday, when lawmakers took a shot at solving the state's obesity epidemic.

With one in five Illinois children classified as obese and 62 percent of the state's adults considered overweight, health advocates are pushing a platter of diet solutions including trans fat bans and restricting junk food purchases on food stamps.

---

update:
UPDATE Wednesday, May 11 • Cultra has issued a statement on his tax deduction comment:

"I certainly regret my choice of words in the recent debate on Senate Bill 396. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment taken out of context - and should not be taken seriously. I am sensitive to the need to reduce childhood obesity. But I don't believe a new tax one everyone who buys juice, soda and energy drinks will accomplish the goal. Parents have to take some responsibility."

It should be noted that no one in the committee room yesterday laughed during or after Cultra's comment.

-Hannah Hess

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illinois/article_ce1a393c-7b4e-11e0-b418-0019bb30f31a.html

[virgogal]

1. This makes me angry,very angry.Cultra is an ass.

My family has never had weight problems but I know people who do.

Great people.try to keep the weight down,but something in their metabolism is different.

[Sonoman]

2. There is more than one source/cause of obesity.

But if a kid (or adult) is food-fat, then I am with Mr. Cultra. My town has been named one of the Top 10 Fittest communities in America. If what I saw at our weekly Farmers Market last night was any indicator, the study must have neglected the school-age demo of our population.

I am sick and tired of seeing all of these fat kids. The down-the-road societal costs are going to be staggering. I don't care how coarse and politically un-correct that sounds, it is the simple truth.

If that offends anyone, I apologize for the offense but not for what I wrote. Something's gotta give.

Sonoman

[Lyric]

5. You don't think that "something" has to give. You think fat people have to.

And ONLY them.

An alternative suggestion is that thin people stop acting as if they've been given a mission by GOD to impose regulations forcing others to conform to the "acceptable" body shape, but nooooo, we can't do that. We can't ask for tolerance and for people to STFU and mind their own bathroom scales, because fat is ICKY. Punish, punish, punish!!!

I'm so sick of weight bigotry.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

6. Eating healthy is expensive.

Want a kid to be thin? Help his parents buy him veggies instead of McDonald's. Frankly, as long as we do not have socialized medicine, this is no one's business but the family's. Who cares if you're sick and tired of seeing all these fat kids? You sound like an idiot when you say shit like that! Who appointed you the fat police? You're rude and, frankly, ignorant.
I was a fat kid. I was active. I ate fine. I just didn't get diagnosed with thyroid issues until I was 16. Now I'm a fat adult. I take responsibility for it. I do exercise, for the record.
Duckie

[bobbolink]

9. That's right, and something so many "progressives" don't GET.

Cheap foods have lots of high-fructose corn syrup. That isn't a matter of being "educated", that is a matter of buying what you CAN.

What people get in food stamps ISN'T enough to feed people healthily and properly. It just ISN'T.

Also, and I don't think a lot of people understand this, so many of the drugs that people take now, anti-depressants, and probably the stuff that kids are given for ADHD, cause weight gain. WHY should they be punished for that?

Also, I recognize that many are vegetarians, but please... people have the right to eat what they want and what they NEED. Some of us need meat, and we should NOT be judged by some purist standard.

[Sonoman]

11. That's why I intro'd it like I did YRD.

When your thyroid is fucked, so are you. Not much you can do about it.

But I do think that if more dietary info was available, more people would eat more healthily.

Even if you cannot do much about your weight, you can do something about your health (such as you are doing). Our kids don't even have exercise as an option, anymore.

Take care.

Sonoman

[MissB]

10. P.E., sports.

Along with library, counselors, art and music, P.E. is often on the chopping block when school budgets are slim.

You know what my kids' school charges per sport? $250. I have a sixth grader and seventh grader. Soccer, basketball, track. Three sports in the school year and I'm out $1500.

My kids are slim. They get four afternoons a week of sports workouts. Their principal also switched lunch recess to right before lunch this year, which gives the kids a good chance to run before sitting down to eat.

It's more than dietary. Sure, that is one component.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

3. Is he gonna pay for all those medical screenings for fat kids?

To see if they are diabetic, or they have a dead thyroid gland, or any number of other metabolic problems?

:shrug:

Nope, he won't. I thought so.

[alp227]

4. you should've added "Mentally" before the title

Shame on Shane Cultra, who would then turn around and speak at a "Lower taxes" rally. BUT...screw the struggling working class who most likely have these obese kids.

My liberal alternative: No tax deductions for parents who hand trust fund money to their kids.

[Luciferous]

7. I live in IL, my kids are thin, and most of the kids I see at the school

are thin. :shrug:

[orpupilofnature57]

8. So they can pay for Phat Cats.

[Odin2005]

12. *FACEPLAM*