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TUSCALOOA, Ala. Proponents of an American Nanny State have a plan to improve your health: Tax sugar and junk food so you will eat less of it.

These plans for bureaucrats and politicians to remake your diet are bad news for four reasons.

First, it is no ones business but yours what you eat. The freedom to eat a slice of apple pie might not sound quite as stirring as freedom of speech, but the ability to choose how to live our lives is the most fundamental freedom. What you eat is no ones business but yours.

Second, even if the government has a role to play in guiding our dietary choices, efforts at restructuring Americans lives via the tax code are fundamentally flawed.

This strategy has given us a tax system of unimaginable complexity: The Internal Revenue Code is almost 10 million words long. The leading publication for tax professionals takes up nine feet of shelf space. And that doesnt count the tens of thousands of pages of laws and regulations concerning sales, use, property, excise, and other taxes levied by government.

Taxes need to be simple and easy to administer. As tax laws get fatter, they clog our economic arteries and stifle growth. Trying to fine tune Americans diets via a junk food tax will further fatten the tax laws, and the wallets of accountants and tax lawyers.

If there are any Americans unaware that sugar and potato chips are fattening despite our $35 billion per year diet industry we dont need a tax to enlighten them, just some public service announcements.

Third, the governments record on dietary control is problematic. The federal government has been involved in the sugar market since the War of 1812. Nanny Staters promise that this time theyll get things right, but if they havent managed to do so in 200 years, why should we believe them now?

The details of official rules are written in back rooms in Congress and government agencies. When those details are drafted, those best able to influence the results are the lawyers and lobbyists for special interest groups.

For sugar, thats the manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup and the 17 domestic sugar cane producers who reap millions of dollars annually under our current agricultural subsidies and sugar tariffs.

Here is the original post:
Morriss: Attack of the Nanny State

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anne Gannon, Constitutional Tax Collector, has announced that her agency is the recipient of the 2012 South Florida Worksite Wellness Forum Award in the small business category. Bestowed by the Florida Heart Research Institute in partnership with the Consortium for a Healthier Miami Dade, the award honors organizations that have, according to the Institute, "demonstrated a commitment to employee wellness and whose programs produced positive health outcomes."

Gannon commented "I am very proud of our employees that embraced our wellness initiative. Florida Heart Research's Wellness Award is a wonderful recognition of their commitment to creating healthy habits for themselves and their families."

Gannon's agency has long been involved with wellness initiatives, including an innovative and long-term risk reduction program with partner Karelia Health. The motivation for the program implementation was to better the health of her employees while driving down escalating health care costsboth of which have taken place. "Rising health insurance premiums are alarming to businesses of all sizes. That's why they want to engage in strategies to combat escalating premiums. Companies want to control health benefit costs to protect their bottom line," said Gannon.

The award was presented to the Constitutional Tax Collector's Office on April 20th during the 2012 South Florida Worksite Wellness Forum and Awards at the Miami Beach Resort in Miami Beach. Bill Carew, President of Karelia Health accepted the award on behalf of Anne Gannon and the Office of the Constitutional Tax Collector. "This is a terrific example of how strong leadership can deliver exceptional results," Carew said. "By partnering with Karelia Health, the agency has dramatically reduced the incidence of chronic disease, reducing healthcare costs for taxpayers while improving the health, productivity and quality of life for workers."

The agency's focus on workforce health is not newin fact, Gannon was one of the first officials to implement a non-smoking policy. However, to truly implement a sustainable, long-term positive effect on the health of her employees, Gannon felt that a programmatic approach tied to health care costs was necessary. "I believe that government agencies need to step up and do our part to hold the line on costs," said Gannon.

About The Constitutional Tax CollectorThe Constitutional Tax Collector serving Palm Beach County collects and distributes over $3 billion annually in taxes and fees. The Office collects property taxes for every local government agency that has the power to levy, serves the county's agent for the administration of business tax receipts and tourist development taxes, issues driver licenses, identification cards, titles and registrations for automobiles, trucks, mobile homes and vessels as agent for The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and serves as agent for The Department of Environmental Protection, The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and The Department of Revenue. The Constitutional Tax Collector is a separate and independent governmental entity to ensure freedom from influence by local or state agencies with the power to levy. The Tax Collector's budget is approved by the Florida Department of Revenue.

ABOUT KARELIA HEALTH The mission at Karelia Health is to save money and lives by preventing and reversing the progression of chronic illness in individuals at high and emerging risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and lifestyle related cancers. Karelia Health was originally founded in 1985 as Corporate Health Services of America and later as Health Navigators, LLC by Peter Townsley and Charles Taylor, MD. The core operating philosophy of the business originates in the field of preventive cardiology and has since been codified in the medical literature by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) through the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Protocol III (NCEP-ATP III) Guidelines. For more information visit http://www.kareliahealth.com.

Original post:
Tax Collector's Office Receives Worksite Wellness Award

10 May 2012 Last updated at 19:00 ET

Major UK-based firms cut secret tax deals with authorities in Luxembourg to avoid millions in corporation tax in Britain, the BBC's Panorama has found.

The programme obtained confidential tax agreements detailing plans to move profits off-shore to avoid what was a 28% corporate tax rate at the time.

Those involved include pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and media company Northern & Shell.

Both firms told the programme they have a duty to be tax efficient.

In the case of GSK, the UK-headquartered firm set up a new company in the tiny European tax haven of Luxembourg in 2009.

Because of the veil of secrecy surrounding all these decisions around tax...we, on behalf of the taxpayer, cannot be certain that this was a good, honest, proper deal

In 2010, the new subsidiary lent 6.34bn to a GSK company in the UK.

In return, the UK company paid nearly 124m in interest back to the Luxembourg subsidiary - effectively removing that money from the UK company's profits.

That move meant the money was no longer available to tax in the UK at 28%.

Read more from the original source:
UK companies cut secret tax deals

Wealthy Kiwis returning from overseas to settle back home are contributing to the increasing prices of houses throughout the country.

Latest figures from the housing market show prices increased again in April, bringing the total national increase in house values to 3.1 per cent in the past year.

Bayleys realtor Graham Wallace, who deals with properties in Auckland's highly sought-after "leafy'' eastern suburbs, says that there is definitely an increase in expat buyers.

"I can tell you on every property, I would have at least three or four expat Kiwis.

"They're professionals, they've done very, very well and they're bringing the money they've made and their families back to New Zealand.''

Mr Wallace said expat buyers were looking to return to New Zealand for its family-friendly lifestyle.

Auckland QV valuer Glenda Whitehead said prices in the Auckland area, which increased by 5 per cent over 12 months, had also been affected by eager buyers keen to outbid one another at auctions.

"There are not that many properties on the market at the moment, so when something comes up that ticks everybody's boxes, they're all on to it like nothing on Earth.

"They get along to the auction and get a bit excited, and they might have a valuation or advice, say, of $800,000 and think, `I'll go to $850,000'.''

Ms Whitehead said buyers had been known to get carried away at auctions.

Read this article:
Rich expats drive up house prices

CAIRO: Egypts presidential election, set to be the freest the country has ever had, began for citizens abroad Friday after a caustic televised debate between two candidates that produced no clear favorite to lead the most populous Arab nation.

Egyptians who overthrew President Hosni Mubarak as uprisings hit the Arab world last year are savoring the spectacle of politicians competing for their votes. The streets are abuzz with arguments over who is the best man to tackle poverty and corruption and uphold their new-found freedoms.

With no obvious winner for now, the fewer than 1 million expatriates registered to vote in consulates between May 11 and 17 may help swing the election. Recent polls suggest the race is wide open, with many citizens yet to make up their minds.

Expatriates who have registered to vote are a minority among the 6 to 8 million Egyptians who live abroad, mostly in Europe, North America and Gulf Arab states, according to official figures cited by local media.

In France, Abd al-Aal Shady, 55, an agriculture engineer living in Paris, said he had voted for the leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.

He is the black horse of this presidential election because he is the most famous to have fought the former government since he was a student, Shady said. If [Amr] Moussa wins, it is catastrophic for the people. It leads to a second revolution.

Hundreds of Egyptians queued in front of their embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh to cast their votes.

For the first time in my life, I take part in elections, and I dont know how it will end or who will win, said one of them, Mahy Samir.

In Rome, Aiman Younes, 45, a pizza maker, said he had voted for Abol Fotouh because he deemed him honest. I think it will get better. We are going through some difficulties but I hope things will improve, we just need a bit of time, Younes said.

Egypt is not used to this sort of thing. Slowly people will get used to it. I want the new president to focus on helping poor people, and making sure everyone has enough to eat.

Originally posted here:
Egyptian expats vote as leadership race heats up