Regarding that Americans Against Food Taxes commercial on CNN before Obama's statement

[alp227]

That commercial featured a woman claiming that food taxes = government telling people what to eat and what not to eat. Sheesh, I thought, yet more right-wing corporate apologist BS. I googled DU and found these threads: two from September 2009, two from July 2009 (and a political videos post), and one from last Saturday. It sucks how front groups get so much free attention in the mainstream media and that you actually have to go to sites like DU or seek alternative media to be well-informed about what corporations plan on doing.

On Wednesday, this caller on Thom Hartmann's show launched a complaint against teachers' unions that Hartmann claimed was based on what the anti-union front groups had been feeding her. (edited to add) Even progressive programming like on MSNBC and Hartmann have right-wing commercials (recently on Hartmann I heard an ad for EndofAmerica13.com, a project of Porter Stansberry)

[SharonAnn]

1. I knew that was "Astro-turf" from soft-drink manufacturers immediately.

These things are NOT "food". They should not be tax exempt/tax reduced like food is.

They are non-food items. Plain and simple.

This is like the anti-deposits on the bottle/can return legislation. It's soft drink manufacturers who think people would buy fewer cans/bottles if they had to pay a deposit on them.

It's the usual suspect. Corporate greed.

[alp227]

2. oh also i'm reading about that group in Wendell Potter's new book

Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans, page 229.

[MineralMan]

3. I detest that ad. The woman lists all the shitty things she's buying

for her family and is pissed that they might, possibly, some day, be taxed. Then she pulls out a bottle of some generic "juice" drink that she's taking home to poison her family. Worst. TV. Ad. Ever.

[CTyankee]

4. I just yell at the TV when that commercial comes on: "Want to save money?

Drink tap water, lady!"

[SoCalDem]

5. or BUY some tea bags..real ones..not the ones carrying misspelled signs

:)

[MineralMan]

6. Yup. What the heck is she feeding those kids?

How about buying some actual orange juice or apple juice or something? No tax proposed for those. Only for bellywash with no food value.

[jp11]

7. I liked it because it made me laugh, she's all angry about

how 'big government' wants to tax her and how she can decide what to feed her family. Not like the food manufacturers are bent on making/selling us food that is loaded with fat, calories, sugar, etc all to make us like it more than anything good for us. Or that she probably doesn't even know how stacked the tables are against her to shove sugar/fat/crap in all her food for her to even make an 'informed' choice on good food.

How about food manufacturers make healthy food, how about they take some of the sugar out of near everything they make, or maybe put some acttual nutrients in the crap they make, or vitamins?

[godai]

9. Likewise. n/t

[muntrv]

8. Everytime I see that stupid ad, I yell "Hey stupid! You don't need

soda pop,flavored water, and all that other junk to survive!"