Yesterday, the House voted to approve a bill to increase healthcare programs for underprivileged children. This is to be funded in part by increasing taxes on tobacco products, increasing the federal tax on cigarettes to $1 per pack. President Bush had vetoed similar bills twice, and they say this very well might be the first bill put in front of President Elect Obama to sign.

Is this a good thing? I think so. Unlike proceeds from state lotteries going to schools as an excuse for the lottery, this is not a government sponsored addiction. I see this as another incentive for those smoking to stop smoking, and for those who don't smoke to never start. If the price of admission to tobacco is high enough, many people may decide it's not worth it. Sure, there are going to be those who would do anything for a cigarette, including knock over the local gas station, but I believe the majority of those using tobacco products could reach a threshold where the pain of purchasing the products exceeds the desire to have them and they either cut back, stop entirely, or seek help to stop.

I think this same concept could be taken even a step further. Find other items that damage our collective health and increase the taxes on them over time. Add a 5% tax to junk food and use the proceeds to help pay healthcare. Add a 10% tax on products with high fructose corn syrup, and use it to pay for diabetes research and treatment, or perhaps to provide tax breaks to fitness centers to encourage lower membership costs.

All the education in the world hasn't stopped obesity from growing rampant. Making healthy products less expensive and unhealthy products more expensive is the best tool the Government has to help us collectively get fit. I live in West Virginia with it's amazing outdoor recreation. We have some of the best hiking and biking trails in the nation, amazing white water rafting, and the second highest obesity rate in the nation. It doesn't really make sense, does it?