yea, I agree there could even be a tax on trans fats and high fructose corn syrup and other things that are super super unhealthy to eat…. oh but wouldn’t the costs of unhealthy food get passed on to the consumer u ask? Sure they would, alot of them but i’d sure notice it alot less at a dollar a meal than 90 bucks a month all in one payment.

Not related to diet, but I immediately thought of all the waste that is associated with fast food. It is all over our highways and I won’t even guess as to how many tons of trash that goes into our landfills as a result from burger wrappers, cups, fry boxes etc. We get fat and so does the dump. It is too bad that it is cheaper to eat unhealthy than healthy.

Yes, William is right! It would be easier to stomach paying a little extra when I want to eat junk food than beeing told that I have to purchase minimum coverage health insurance by threat of fines or possible jail time. That’s pretty much the whammy they fooled us into the first time in most states w auto ins.

Agreed Colonel,.. All fast food packaging should be made out of that new soy or veg oil based plastic, I think maybe Whole foods uses it and it is bio-degradeable

Huh! good point… getting taxed on selling really unhealthy food might even incentivise food to producers to start making healthier foods so that they don’t have to pay as many taxes… which could accidentally eventually lead to less health problems in the future.

William,
Do you really want the government to tax more? Why should I pay for someone to receive Healthcare? I believe we should help individuals that are not physically or mentally able to help themselves. I also believe that we should try to help those who cannot financially help themselves when it comes to health care, but we should ensure we do not have anyone playing the system because they are just plain lazy.
I have a better idea. Why don’t you stop telling people what they can and cannot eat? Why don’t we stop these enormous stupid lawsuits? Why don’t we make the insurance for doctors and nurses cheaper? Why can’t we allow groups of people in different organizations to combine and receive lower rates? Why don’t we allow insurance companies provide insurance across state lines?
When has taxing anything solved a problem? Why should anyone have a say in what I eat. If you tax these companies, they lose business. They cut jobs and maybe go out of business. You have less money for your idea to pay for this stupid Insurance idea. Then you have to raise taxes on everyone. Raising taxes only kills the economy and lowers income. You take from one – you take from all.
Let’s say the health care goes through and the tax is implemented. You lay off the millions of people that worked in that industry, and the government does not have enough for the healthcare program.
This is extreme, but could happen:
I see you holding a little girl in your picture. I will assume she is your daughter. Let’s say the healthcare was passed before she was born and she was your third child. The government passes a law that you will be taxed a substantial amount for every child after your second one, because it costs too much to pay for a delivery. The government finds out you cannot pay the tax, so they mandate that your wife/girlfriend has an abortion.
When you allow government to intrude in everything that you do, what will stop this from happening. You want people to give up their right to choose. If I want a Whopper then I should have one without paying a tax for someone else. We already tax people that smoke and drink. I do not do either, but they shouldn’t have to give up their rights for others.
Pretty soon we will probably be taxed per pound per year on what we weight.

BE CAREFUL FOR WHAT YOU WISH FOR – YOU MAY GET MORE THAN WHAT YOU WISHED FOR!
FOR!

“Pretty soon we will probably be taxed per pound per year on what we weigh.”

        
"It’s absolutely brilliant! Joe, I want to know everything there is to know regarding this Alvin Winter fella…I want him as my Commissioner of Internal Revenue! If we can get him, wonder if I can convince him to help push through my ‘Carbon Exhalation Taxation’ idea…Shouldn’t all of the World’s Citizens be taxed for breathing?! I mean, seriously…Carbon Dioxide is Carbon Dioxide, right?!”

Agreed on all accounts but I am worried that outragous healthcare costs will eventually break this economy, and I don’t think government is an evil thing… I still believe it is for the good of the people, waistful and stupid yes, but evil no, on the other hand I truly do think that giant companies are evil, relentless and unstoppable in their quest for proffits at any cost… they also know that government will bail them out now when they screw up. Some moral issues like helping sick people cannot be left to the control of for proffit organizations. Helping people survive fairly is supposed to be what we set up our government to do and I dont think big brother is out to get us but I do think conglomerates will bleed us dry if we let them! And they will always push the limits to see how much they can get away with.

Now I’m not saying that u can’t eat a triple cheeseburger w cheese and wash it dow w fries and a strawberry shake, but I am saying that u should pay a dollar more for it and that tax money should be set aside to the health care system so that we can afford ur double by-pass surgery in the distant future when it is necessary.

so eventually any health care that we end up with or medicaid or medicaire will essentially be supplimented by the american taxpayers in one way or another… the question is should we split the tab w the huge huge corporations that are selling all of us unhealthy foods, or should we vote to let them just keep and enjoy all of those billions that they are amassing?

So, you trust government which can run your life and are scared of corporations that cannot. Capitalism is what has made this country great. You as an inventor should know this. I trust a person who goes out and works hard to achieve something, before I would trust a politician or someone who lives on the state and have the means and capability to work.
I do not religiously eat fast food; I and many other people would like to eat health every day. Healthy food usually costs twice the amount of fast food. People on a budget and a busy schedule must eat fast food or do without. Now you want to increase that cost, so they are forced to eat what you want them to eat. What gives you the right to decide that for anyone?
Do you know who owns corporations? The stock holders. People like you and I, own parts of a corporation. You want to affect those stock owners. The tax will not be taken from the corporations it will be transferred to the consumer. The corporation will start to lose money, businesses will close, people will lose their jobs, and stock owners will lose their retirement. What you are purposing has a big effect on the economy. Anytime a tax is introduced, regardless of how much, it will always have a negative effect.
As stated before, once you do this, what is next? Does all food get taxed regardless if it is good or not? I use to live in New Jersey – I just moved. About 15-20 years ago my county was implementing a recycling program. With the program, the politicians promised that the taxes would either be cut or would remain the same for the next three years. Taxes increased, because the recycling program cost more to operate it than was taken in. They also started raising tolls on bridges for the same reason. Taxes raised and the toll money was used for the new programs the state began.
Did you ever see those walls on highways? They are supposed to block the noise and pollution to the houses that were built near the highway. The highway was built before most of the houses. The people that built their houses near the highway saved money on the property for that reason. The tax payers paid for the bad judgment of some idiot to build a house near a highway.
You are right government is not evil; it is corrupt with politicians that want money and power. Corporations want money, but they at least produce a needed product or service. Politicians will tell you that they are doing something for the greater good. They do this as long as they get their share of money, power, or votes. Not every politician is corrupt, but most are. You can tell the ones that are. They blame everyone but themselves for negative outcomes and take credit for positive.
If we give up our rights no matter what it is for, we will give the government the power to control each and everything we do.
I am a US Navy Hospital Corpsman, a husband, a father, and a concerned citizen. I have fought for your freedom along with every other veteran. Men have died for your freedom. Why would you just give it away?

I agree w most if not all of what u say, (and love all fast food, and have always struggled w a weight problem). I just wish there was a simple solution that we could all agree upon, and at this point current estimates indicate that about $90 per month per every american is what a sustainable health care system would cost… I am more optomistic of simple solutions than complicated ones. I think some form of reform will eventually happen at which point the country will be looking for the revenue of $90 a person a month, it just seems more practical to imploy a gradual collection system one meal at a time rather than begging everyone to set aside or save up that money every month. I am a good roofer always making ends meet for my family but at the end of the month I can never seem to afford health care I guess im just hoping for a way to pay for it little by little in a seemingly less painful hit. And junk foods seem to be the root of most health problems thus making the junk food suppliers a viable scape goat in my mind?

The answer is personal responsibilty. The foods our grandparents used to eat (before all the processed convenience foods came about) are still there. Go to the grocery store and shop the perimeter. That’s where most of the healthy stuff is. All the processed junk is in the center aisles. Stop buying that stuff and they will make less of it. Nobody has to eat fast food. It’s actually more expensive than packing your own healthy food. People have to start fixing their own problems. I’m a mother of small children, and I know firsthand that is is easier to hit the drive-thru. And we do, but very sparingly. It takes a little extra work initially, and of course the children complain. But I’m the leader, and what I put in front of them is what they are going to eat. It is my responsibility to make sure it is healthy, and I take that responsibility seriously. So now the government is going to tell me what I can eat or not eat because other people find it too inconvenient to take care of themselves?? Yikes!

I would order the triple burger (no cheese), large fries and CHOCOLATE Malt (Steak and Shake)- but as I raised my kids, I did NOT stop for drive thru’s that much and now that my kids are grown, they actually bring this up to me quite often saying that “we eat different than 85% of people whom they know” so it is good to read the above post and realize that I am not or was not the “odd” one! Thank you Margaret, now I can tell my kids that I was not the only one who would make them wait till we got home and I could fix supper (or lunch, etc)!!!- and, oh yes, They are much more appreciative of that fact now!

My point exactly Margret. I am not promoting that everyone eat the Double Cheese Burger. It is the persons own choice and responsibility of what they want to eat, just like it is our choice and responsibility to buy healthcare.
The argument has been made that it is illegal to not have car insurance. This is only true if you have a car and you drive it. If you do not have a car, you do not need car insurance. Car insurance main purpose is to divert the significant cost if you have an accident. The insurance covers the innocent that have been affected and restores personnel property. Health insurance diverts the cost of medical emergencies and routine procedures. Health Insurance does not protect anyone from getting sick nor does it compensate you from getting sick. It is a tool to divert cost only. The law requires that all emergencies must be treated in a Hospital regardless of the person’s ability to pay. So, all emergency medicine is covered by law. We also have many free clinics that give free health care. We have hospital and doctors that donate their time and money to heal people without insurance and no means to pay. We have nonprofit organizations that own hospitals, cancer treatment facilities, etc to help people in need. Even with all this we still have people that fall from the cracks. It is a very small amount, but the government’s current proposal will eliminate all the positive resources we now.\
Reform is needed, but we do not need to trash what we have. We need less government intervention. Less law suit malpractice compensation, lowered malpractice insurance, better health insurance options and competition without a public option (that will help to make insurance companies go out of business).

Im not saying u can’t eat anything, im just saying we should tax the huge companies for selling the crap, fructose,msg, trans fats etc, i trust the FDA to decide which ones, those taxes should be relagated strictly only to health care… 1% of the US population controls 99% of the money…They are not going to go broke and neither will the corporations they control ie doritos mcdonalds coke pepsi, whatever… they are literally laughing all the way to the bank as they let us squabble over the 1% of money they let us keep. They must pay a little more if they even decided to let us play with 5% of it you would be making 5 times more money per year than u do now can u imagine how that would change ur life?

William,
You just do not get it. Why do you want to punish corporations for someone who makes a bad judgment in buying a product? I guess you are going to give the government every dime if you have an invention that sells. Maybe you should give the government 10% of your income for someone to have health care. Why do you curse someone who has become rich? I would think that is what everyone is inspired to be.
No one holds a gun to anyone’s head and makes them consumer a burger, but the government wants to fine and/or throw you in jail if you do not buy health insurance. Stop trying to blame the rich for something and blame the individual for their irresponsibility.
William your way of thinking is socialism and it is not what America stands for. Taking from the haves and giving to the have nots is not the right way. Allowing the haves to give to the have nots has always been the American way. The American people are generous; they and corporations have given more to this country and others than any other Head of State.
You trust every part of the government and hate anyone trying to make a better life for themselves and their children. You want to tell them what they can eat, what they should teach their kids, make sure they do not own a hand gun, and any other Liberal view that is out there. Trusting any Government is always a big mistake. I trust the American People 100%.
Your commit about them not going broke is funny. Businesses lay off people when they lose money. Take for instance your situation. You state you do not have Health Care because you cannot afford it. That statement proves my point. You are downsizing. Because you cannot afford it. The business must make money for their stock owners to survive. They lose money means they must cut production. They cut production means they cut jobs, unless they like paying people to stand around.
Why can’t you down size somewhere else to get health care. Maybe you should only eat fruit and vegetables for breakfast and lunch and meat or protein for dinner. Maybe we should make the government mandate this for you, because I have to pay for your health care. Maybe we should tell you that you and your family must stop eating three meals a day, and only eat a maximum of two to ensure you do not get fat. This isn’t much different from what you want the government to do, but you think it is, because it sounds good for certain people. Even if it takes someone else’s freedom away.

for the last time No One Is Telling YOU What U Can And Cant Eat…….. Only that u should pay a tiny bit extra for the super unhealthy stuff that is going to undoubtedly, undeniably, someday eventually, way on down the road, just in time for ur grandkids healthcare system to pay for it, put you into a very very expensive hospital…. unless u are one of the very few of human beings in America that dies of natural old age.
I think u r the one who doesnt understand, just because u pay ur own health insurance and look out for urself and love the status quo just the way it is and dont want anything to ever change, doesn’t mean that the food options that are available to us in this country at sustainable prices for survival nourishment are not the exact reason why we are the most obese and unhealthy civilized country in the world. and people like u killing the public option, r the reason that day laborers like me will never be able to afford health care. and the multi million dollar insurance executives that u r so proud of will continue to horde all real money and real power to pay for more republican propaganda advertising to tell u that ur a great american just keep it up so they can stay on the golf course because they deserve it given they were so much smarter than everyone else to have stumbled into that line of work.

William,
Why do you hate the rich? What did they do to you? If you knew anything about economics, you would know that the public option would kill this country. Class warfare between the rich and the poor has been a political tactic used for people like you to vote for some of the dumbest things.
That rich guy that plays golf pays the salary of the person that may hire you for a job. You by eating a Burger King helps to pay someone’s salary. Do you know about inflation? When you raise one thing, other things start to go up in price. Do remember the gas going up to $4-$5 a gallon? Has anything but the price of gas and home values gone down? Gas and homes have gone down, because we use less gas and people are not buying or unable to afford homes.
You are so worried about health care when you should worry about the passing of the public option. If it passes you may find yourself out of work for a long time. I think eating and providing for a family is more important. Of course if you do not pay for or get insurance you will be arrested. You can eat when you are in jail.
The rich is defined as anyone making about $150,000 or more. After paying salaries and for overhead that is not much. Currently anyone making over I think $125,000 pays about 40-46% in taxes depending on where you live. If the public option goes through then they will pay 50-60% of their income in taxes. You probably pay about 30-33% in takes now. What if they raise you to the 40-46% and make you pay 100-200 a month for health insurance. If you do not think you can pay now, what will you do if this stupid thing passes?
Please do some research, before you do something you regret. My brother was in the same position you were in. He decided to find a job that pays for his benefits while working his own business. Instead of trying to take from someone else why shouldn’t people take responsibility and do for themselves. The people that made this country great were not given health insurance. I think 200+ years of greatness proves we do not need to give everyone health care. We done great so far without giving it to people and we have the greatest health care in the world. The plan you want has been tested and has failed in England, France, and Canada. If you want their nightmare, why don’t you move there? Canada is about to get rid of their healthcare system, if they can. I’ve been to other countries and have seen their healthcare. You would hate to get sick anywhere else on this planet than the US.
I know from you last couple of posts that you obviously do not get it, or think I am lying. So, why don’t you stop listening to MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and research the facts. I know you are watching this or listening to the talking points of the Democrats, because all you are saying is the same thing they repeat. You know you can get almost any animal to talk as long as you say the same thing over and over again. I am not saying this to disrespect you. I am saying this because it is true and that is the way your elected officials view everyone. They think we are stupid animals that will just repeat stuff. The sad truth, the uninformed will.

William,

I see what you are saying. But we already have a government entity in place that is supposed to protect us from food that is bad for us. I’m sorry to say that the FDA is not doing a whiz bang job. I don’t know why – understaffed, underfunded, lobbyists in their pockets – I don’t know. I have already seen ads on tv in defense of high fructose corn syrup (surely by whoever it is that makes it), saying that it is simply concentrated sugar. What I don’t like is that the government may someday tax sugar because they decided it was bad for me (even though it’s been around for eons without a problem) and then I will have to pay $15 for a bag of sugar. My problem is that we have been told that eggs are bad for us, then we find out they aren’t as bad as orignally thought. Butter is bad for us, time to use margarine – ooops, margarine has trans fats and those are bad for you. Better go back to butter because at least your body can recognize it because it’s a natural food, and knows how to break it down. Better use olive oil, but oh, be careful because if it gets heated to smoking point it can be bad for you. Sheesh. I don’t trust the FDA to protect me and I just don’t see the goverment being able to police the conflicting data from the “experts.” There are just too many things that can be considered unhealthy or unsafe for you (if not used properly and in moderation). I just really think that people need to be responsible for educating themselves and decide accordingly.

I filed a complaint with the FDA a few years ago because I didn’t like that Splenda was being put in my kids breakfast cereal. I felt duped by the “25% less sugar” banner that was plastered across the cereal box. In my opinion Splenda has not been around long enough for it to be considered safe for consumption by children. I base this on the fact that I’m old enough to remember that they once thought saccharin was safe. Twenty years later, oops it can cause bladder cancer. I’ve had some personal experience with bad reactions to aspartame. I don’t want to test Splenda out on my kids, whose organs are still developing until they are in their 20’s. I wanted them to put the Splenda symbol on the front of the cereal box. People buy the cereal that say 25% less sugar because they think they simply removed sugar (and in some cases that is true), but in some cases they are also adding sweetener. The FDA’s response was that it a derivative of sugar, and that it has been deemed safe. They recommended that I read the labels. I was disappointed in their response. But even though it can be very time consuming, you had better believe that I read the labels now. It’s my responsibility.

I do agree with you that I wish these companies would stop gentically engineering our food. I’m just not sure taxation is the way to go. I do think if people weren’t interested in buying food that lasted for years in their pantry, it would not be such a big industry. I do see a shift in thinking starting to happen though. If that continues, hopefully there will be less junk food around and the prices of the healthy food will come down. We drive the market with our purchases.

i just noticed logo on this site ‘Reinventing american ingenuity’ have the web designers gone loopy there or what?
how can people from all the other countries in the world feel part of the site and competitions with this up there. It is a universal site or is it not!!
what if someone from Italy wants to enter an idea?

I am off to get my head checked , It must be my inventors head is giving me Hallucinations

Brenden, I guess they’re inferring that American ingenuity is a state of mind or somthin that can be practised anywhere, but I agree w u that that could be construed as kinda conceited if we lived in another country but oh well at least they mean well and have good intentions for all. And back to the health care people I’m sorry to sound like such an evil devils advocate and I like the way u guys think, and agree w u half-heartedly. But just know that there is some compromise to be found. We are a nation of mostly rational people lets try something slightly new and if its not working in the near future lets re-acess it. we dont have to stick w it if the government starts telling us to eat our young. If the change really doesnt work then u will always have the old system to go back to it doesn’t just get deleted from memory, but u will never know if u dont try!

PS Quit watchin fox news. HaHaHe!

I see your point William. Something definitely needs to change. I just feel like we Americans put too much of a burden on our goverment to fix all of our problems, when we can personally make changes to fix many of them on our own.

For the record – I don’t watch ANY news shows :)

One of the EN team tells now it has always been up there, and my preoccupied head or whatever never saw it
I would say,Not concieted or anything as Willian, you suggested, just a strategy in branding that needs closer inspection, I mean following the flag is fine as an idea to jolly along any site in the world but not everyone that signs up to EN will be inspired, unless they get auto-matic US citizenship on signing up here, if so I am all for the tag line myself.

onward brave americans! onwards we go! ummm hold on, we forgot a few allies and a few stragglers, and a few turncoats and informers.

Well can u actually re-invent ingenuity anyway?… Isn’t it kind of perpetually inventing itself kinda by definition already?

Brendan,
That tagline has been there since we created the “new” logo, which was about 9 months ago or so.

I agree that it’s not the most international. I lived overseas for a bit and experienced the exporting of American culture first-hand. It’s not meant to offend, though. I anticipate that we’ll update it at some point in the future as we start to make a bigger push overseas. We picked “American” for two reasons: 1) the vast majority of manufacturers and retailers that we were targeting as partners were American companies and 2) we didn’t want to take a bold mission statement and completely overblow it into hyperbole (e.g., ReInventing the World’s Ingenuity).

I post our visitor stats from time to time and as you know, we have visitors and members from well over 100 different countries each month… but the vast majority of our members still are in the US. Look at it this way: When everybody in the UK is more interested in Edison Nation than the latest exploits of Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse, you can tell everybody you remembered back when the tagline was “ReInventing American Ingenuity” :-)

New question to anyone who knows lots about plastic… I will assume that each different kind of plastic has its own formula or chemical signature, is that how it works? If so can samples from the ocean be tested to see which companies materials are out there?

now that I have got over ‘my blasting in from another planet and perspective phase’ I get your point.
The other perspective is The word AMERICA inspires, because american has the will to get new things done,
‘Heck they went to the moon’
I heard somewhere the person who first suggested it back then(going to the moon) was really only joking, but the idea just took off.
I am not offended by the exclusive sounding logo

Hold on William I just thought about your post, you are right in saying,
‘Reinventing ingenuity’ sounds daft as a brush, that does!! luckly for the web designers its an inventors site, and we are open to any new concepts no matter how illogical they seem