Law and Regulation will not fix the problems of Health Care

Alright we'll here are a couple of the current health legislation and regulations. These have only been in affect for a year or less so the true success or failure will only be found out in future years. But I think what they do, how they do it, and the other issues they cause have already made them failures. First: I live in Wisconsin, I am not sure if this is a state law, or a regulation applied per each school district, but schools have taken all sodas out of vending machines in an attempt to curb childhood obesity. However these slots have been populated by sport drinks and "juice". Both of these alternatives while perceived healthier have the same or more calories and an equivalent amount of sugar as soda. Problem one: unhealthy options are still present for kids. The problem with this to me is that the regulation doesn't accomplish what it was meant to do. Problem two is the fact that we have had to cut school funding to the point where they need the vending machines to help cover costs. Many areas military, unemployment benefits, social security, and Medicare have contributed to budget constraint issues. I like to think the increase in Medicare and those who use it (older people), have moved funding away from helping the younger generations to preserving the old generations. Problem three, proper diet and nutrition need to be taught at home. Having the option for a soda at school shouldn't be an issue, as children would get one maybe two a week as a splurge as most healthy diets allow for. Second: The banning of trans-fats (New York, Phili, California). These fats are in particular found in oils used to deep fry food. So the obvious problem is people shouldn't be eating deep fried or fried foods to begin with. I don't care what oil you fry French fries in they'll never be healthy enough to eat more then twice a month. Cutting trans-fats maybe healthy but cutting fried foods would be infinitely healthier. With the ban in trans fats we (society) run the risk of now thinking fried foods are healthier and start eating more of them thus negating any gains. Third: Requiring chain restaurants to list nutrition content. First issue with this why penalize larger companies and not the smaller shops. I understand larger companies do have the economic resources to determine this information. That fact still doesn't mean that the Mom and Pop shop uses any healthier ingredients. Second issue eating out is going to be unhealthy it should be viewed as an occasional treat not as a consistent source of food. Third if people don't realize what they're taking in unless it's printed along side the item, then how do they know what they are eating when preparing their own food? Fourth: Preventing certain restaurants in certain area's via zoning. The most famous case is in LA preventing any fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles. First they're discriminating based on store differences. Corporate Fast Food no you can't build, Mom and Pop greasy pizza joint go right a head and build. Second they're saying they know what's better for a town or area then the actual inhabitants. This is in fact further trampling on personal freedoms; no longer can we decide what we can put into our own mouth. True it may kill us in 60 years instead of 80 however that is a personal choice that every individual in this country should be allowed to make.