Stimulus funds aim to help kick cigarettes

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Times:

New York City is pouring hundreds of thousands of federal dollars into television ads telling people they’re better off knocking back a glass of seltzer water or fat-free milk than chugging a soda — part of hundreds of millions of dollars from President Obama’s economic stimulus package devoted to getting Americans to change their behavior by eating more veggies, kicking cigarettes and picking up dumbbells.

In the latest spot, part of a $870,000 stimulus-funded “Pouring on the Pounds” campaign, a narrator warns that while it may seem harmless to have “midmorning soda, a sweetened tea at lunch, a frozen coffee drink in the afternoon and a couple of sodas at dinner” - but it’s not.

“That many drinks a day can add up to a lot of extra calories and all that sugar can bring on serious health problems, including obesity, which causes type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers,” the narrator intones over images of a gangrene-infected foot and a paramedic attempting to shock an overweight man back to life with defibrillator pads.

Backers say the campaign is a worthy use of federal money that will pay off in a healthier population. But opponents called it a “grotesque” use of taxpayer dollars that has little to do with getting the economy back on track — the stated goal of the stimulus.

The clash is just one of many as supporters and opponents of Mr. Obama’s $814 billion stimulus package mark Friday’s second anniversary of its passage still sharply divided over its merits.
________

Well, on the bright side it saved Hizzonor the cost of advertising the nannystate himself...