"Critics say the Obamas are pushing a 'nanny state on steroids.'"
Now, there is a credible argument to be made against our food and health policies--namely, corn subsidies. But of course that isn't what Politico is doing, since that would require actually knowing something about policy.
So, "the Obamas" are pushing this nanny state? Was this a single-family coup d'etat on the part of this black family, hoping to spread their "pro-health" propaganda across the nation? Seems like it clearly was. Look at Michelle! She has the audacity to garden. And My God--Barack isn't toiling over white papers all day, he's playing fucking basketball. On the taxpayer's dime, no less. A disgrace. What good, wholesome, white, Christian, rural, old-school family has time to exercise?
Of course, leaving aside the idiocy of that part of the caption, there's of course the latter half to deal with as well. This "nanny state on steroids"--Politico seems to imply that it's a very widespread, mainstream position, and one that deserves full credibility. Let's dig into the article:
To some, it smacks of a “nanny state on steroids” — but for others who fret that America is turning into one big Overeaters Anonymous meeting, Obama’s prescription is like a low-fat dream come true.
The whole situation has libertarians craving a basket of onion rings and a beer.
The first sign that full-blown retardation is imminent.
“If you care about the sorts of things I do, then you are going to be losing big-time for the next four to eight years,” said David Harsanyi, a Denver Post columnist and author of the book “Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America Into a Nation of Children.”Okay, so we have one guy saying these things. He seems to have a penchant for Dick Morrisesque book titles, but still, he's a journalist. Continuing:
“Frieden’s stick-over-carrot, for-your-own-good approach to public health is no longer confined to the Big Apple,” the industry-backed Center for Consumer Freedom wrote on its blog. “Get ready, because the ‘nanny state on steroids’ is going national.”Okay, that's a wonderfully persuasive argument, chock full of facts and citations. But at least it's someone actually saying it.
But wait...
The bill released Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee orders chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to disclose calories on the menu board and make more nutrition information -- fat, cholesterol, sodium -- available upon request.
Republicans are no less on board. Some of the most conservative members of the House and Senate, as sponsors of the Patients’ Choices Act, want to prohibit junk food under the federal food stamp program and reward seniors who adopt healthful behaviors with lower Medicare premiums.
Whatever the case, libertarians like Michael D. Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute, aren’t looking forward to it.
“At the very least,” said Tanner, “we are going to get nagged a lot.”
Just atrocious.
