The behavior tax mentality comes back for more

In probably one of the most bizarre modes of thinking I have seen yet for one of the many "behavior" taxes (cigarettes, alcohol, etc), New Mexico's idea to tax TVs and Video games probably ranks right up there with the weirdest. In this twist on the "if you aren't behaving in a manner that is healthy for you according to us" theme, New Mexico wants to nudge kids off the couch and out the door by taxing TVs and video games sold in New Mexico.

So when did the Sierra Club and State governments get the idea that video games were bad for us? When New Mexico started running out of funding for their outdoor programs. Of course the solution is to tax a group of people that are not apparently using the parks and recreation facilities rather than just raising fees. The continuing trend of taxing groups of people doing something completely different to fund some other group's pet project is beginning to get out of hand.

The video gaming industry, and those "couch potatoes" have driven much of the computer technology advancements of the recent decades. To suggest that video games is "the" major contributor to low test scores and obesity, just rings with moral and typically arrogant "we know what is good for you" mentalities.

I like and support many of the Sierra Club activities, but this is just going off the edge. If there isn't funding to support parks and recreation areas. Raise the fees till they are funded, leave the kids (and adults) quietly being couch potatoes, and not bothering anyone else alone. I can only imagine that soon we will start to see a movement to double the taxes on Twinkies and Ding Dongs to force obese people to reduce sweet intake.

Apparently, smokers were not the "last" of the behavior taxing targets... maybe your ox will be next to be gored by the behavior tax police.