$200M for fat kids!
SENATORS PLAN BILL TO COMBAT CHILD OBESITY - 7/29/2002
I was sitting here at work when I heard about this story on talk radio. I love it... our country's budget has dipped back down into the red and our representatives are proposing bills to address the critical issue of fat kids. Here's the summary of the story from Reuters:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that tries to tackle America's weight problem with a host of health measures aimed at helping obese children.
The Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act, IMPACT, proposes to give health professionals more training on weight issues, fund new parks, bike paths and recreational centers and provide more money for already-existing exercise and nutrition programs in US schools.
The bill would spend more than $200 million to fund new and existing programs.
The article goes on to give support for how serious the obesity problem is in this country. Yes, I'll admit that there is a problem in this country. Hell, I've become the biggest fat ass myself just sitting in this damn chair for most of the day. However, the thought never crossed my mind to go out and seek federal funding to get rid of my love handles. Actually I was getting pretty sick of seeing myself in the mirror, so I got myself a membership to the YMCA, stopped making my midnight runs to Taco Hell, and actually did something active instead of watching 8 hours of TV a night. Hmmmm, maybe I should send the bills for my Y dues to Congress! I don't think so...
So the answer to help curtail the rising number of fat kids is federal programs? Come on people! Are you kidding me? Are parents accountable for anything these days? "Kids are shooting up their schools... must be the music they listen to!" "Kids are sneaking in bars and getting drunk... We better start punishing the bartenders and owners!" I am so sick of this crap. Parents, this message is to you... WAKE UP! Your child's well being is YOUR responsibility! Not the music industry! Not bar owners! And not the federal government! If I find myself ejaculating inside my wife and the result 9 months later is Rick Jr., we have a signed a contract in semen to raise that child and to be responsible for him/her. Parents are not released from their responsibilities to their children when they get bored and go looking for a new hobby.
But if the answer to this problem isn't $200 million in federally funded programs, what is? Cook a damn meal at home for a change! Switching to the flame broiled Whopper from the fried Big Mac isn't going to help tubby little Tommy. And let your kids run around and play... don't pop in a video tape or a Playstation game to keep them busy! It's common sense people... if your child sits in front of the TV all day eating junk food, he/she is going to end up a little fatty... not to mention retarded and a social outcast. If you think you need the $200 million to help your little Tommy, you should have been wearing a condom.
Hey, let's face it people... this is just another government spending program to save budgeted dollars from being re-allocated to a more important cause... Like speech lessons for our President.
~Richard
spewed out on July 30, 2002
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
