House Passes Cheeseburger Bill

Shane Sacobie · 03-11-2004, 07:39 PM

Quote:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The "Cheeseburger Bill" has overcome its first hurdle to becoming law after the US House of Representatives approved the legislation which, if it becomes law, will stop overweight Americans from blaming their calorie counts on restaurants.

The House voted 276-139 for the so-called "Cheeseburger Bill," which would shield restaurants and food producers from Americans who put on weight with junk food and then take legal action over the negative health consequences.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay praised the passage of bill, which is formally called the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act.

"'Ronald McDonald made me do it' should never be considered the basis for a lawsuit in the real world," DeLay said.

The bill's author, Republican representative Ric Keller of Florida, argued that obesity lawsuits are not only frivolous, but harmful to the US economy.

"We're talking about protecting the single largest private-sector employer in the United States that provides 12 million jobs," Keller said.

"The gist of this legislation is that there should be common sense in the food court, not blaming other people in the legal court," Keller said.

Support for the bill divided largely along party lines, with Democrats saying the bill is a gift to the food industry, and Republicans decrying obesity lawsuits as an abuse by money-grubbing trial lawyers.

"The judicial system is being used by industrious law firms and plaintiffs' lawyers who sue without repercussion," Ohio Republican Bob Ney said from the House floor. "These insane and crazy lawsuits are absolutely not the way."

Massachusetts Democrat James McGovern insisted, however, that the legislation is unnecessary because such suits are rarely are allowed to proceed very far in the court system.

"All these insane, crazy lawsuits that people are referring to are getting dismissed," he said.

The first fast food lawsuit in the United States was filed in 2002 by an overweight New York man who blamed his frequent visits to McDonald's for his obesity and diabetes.

Since then, there has been of deluge of such litigation and growing concern by industry advocates that the pace of such litigation could quicken.

Opponents of the bill said it absolves the food industry of responsibility for its role in one of the most serious health crises facing the United States.

"This bill says to the restaurant industry and the food industry, you don't have any responsibility ... to our kids and the types of products you try to peddle to them," McGovern said.

A study the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Tuesday found that obsesity-related diseases would top smoking as the leading cause of preventable death among Americans by 2005.

Almost 130 million Americans, or 64 percent of the population, are overweight or obese, and the problem is increasing across the board, including many children fond of greasy, high-calorie, fast-food meals.

And recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 15.5 percent of children were seriously overweight and 15 percent more were at risk of becoming so -- three times the rate of a generation ago.

Total direct and indirect costs of obesity, including health care and lost productivity, were estimated at 117 billion dollars nationally in 2000, according to US statistics.

Dark Magus · 03-11-2004, 08:05 PM

INGENIUS.

Fishmael · 03-11-2004, 09:39 PM

Bout time.

PenguinMan · 03-11-2004, 09:54 PM

***CaptHayfever*** · 03-11-2004, 10:47 PM

Rock on.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

**NintendoNut** · 03-12-2004, 05:47 AM

Yeah.

Gamer Chris · 03-12-2004, 09:24 PM

Ahh..finally.

---------------------------------

~Gamer Chris

The better Neo. · 03-13-2004, 03:39 AM

Haha, cool.

Viceroy Nute Gunray · 03-13-2004, 10:34 AM

Anyone besides me think those 139 people who voted against it are obese?

Shane Sacobie · 03-13-2004, 12:31 PM

The government is so out of shape that I'd be surprised if at least 3/4 of them aren't obese.

PenguinMan · 03-13-2004, 01:19 PM

Shane is teh funnay.

***Cosmonautical*** · 03-15-2004, 10:46 AM

^^ exactly

Beam Yosho the Drunkard · 03-15-2004, 04:32 PM

Neato.

I don't even like cheeseburgers.

Normal Hamburgers, however...

DK · 03-17-2004, 12:13 AM

Honestly, how can anyone not know the effects of being on a fast food diet? It's pathetic how people can find the stupidest things to sue over.

Banned from VGF · 04-01-2004, 01:13 AM

It's like the Government saying "Screw you obese people, I'm going on atkins w/exercise".

[sage] · 06-29-2004, 12:15 AM

lol, that's smart of them.

03-11-2004, 09:54 PM	#4
PenguinMan Spin the Disc Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: THE ARCTIC CIRCLE!!!!1 Gender: Posts: 10,731 Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	w00t

03-11-2004, 08:05 PM	#2
Dark Magus Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Gender: Posts: 6,260 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	INGENIUS.

03-11-2004, 09:39 PM	#3
Fishmael Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Palmdale, California Posts: 3,228 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Bout time.

03-11-2004, 10:47 PM	#5
*CaptHayfever* Smash SuperMod Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: (n) - the place where I am Gender: Posts: 27,659 Thanks: 1,991 Thanked 2,486 Times in 1,513 Posts	Rock on. And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

03-12-2004, 05:47 AM	#6
NintendoNut PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Hold on, I know this..... Gender: Posts: 8,655 Thanks: 108 Thanked 85 Times in 56 Posts	Yeah.

03-12-2004, 09:24 PM	#7
Gamer Chris Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Long Island, New York. Posts: 4,534 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ahh..finally. --------------------------------- ~Gamer Chris

03-13-2004, 03:39 AM	#8
The better Neo. Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Alpharetta, GA Posts: 10,114 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Haha, cool.

03-13-2004, 10:34 AM	#9
Viceroy Nute Gunray Fallen Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: new york Gender: Posts: 35,822 Thanks: 187 Thanked 129 Times in 92 Posts	Anyone besides me think those 139 people who voted against it are obese?

03-13-2004, 12:31 PM	#10
Shane Sacobie Banned Join Date: Dec 1969 Posts: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The government is so out of shape that I'd be surprised if at least 3/4 of them aren't obese.

03-13-2004, 01:19 PM	#11
PenguinMan Spin the Disc Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: THE ARCTIC CIRCLE!!!!1 Gender: Posts: 10,731 Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Shane is teh funnay.

03-15-2004, 10:46 AM	#12
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	^^ exactly

03-15-2004, 04:32 PM	#13
Beam Yosho the Drunkard Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The oversized rock of Hawaii. Gender: Posts: 5,670 Thanks: 5 Thanked 17 Times in 13 Posts	Neato. I don't even like cheeseburgers. Normal Hamburgers, however...

03-17-2004, 12:13 AM	#14
DK Senior Member Join Date: Jul 1999 Gender: Posts: 3,003 Thanks: 43 Thanked 49 Times in 41 Posts	Honestly, how can anyone not know the effects of being on a fast food diet? It's pathetic how people can find the stupidest things to sue over.

04-01-2004, 01:13 AM	#15
Banned from VGF Jackass Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Jackassland Posts: 1,531 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	It's like the Government saying "Screw you obese people, I'm going on atkins w/exercise".

06-29-2004, 12:15 AM	#16
[sage] Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Florida Gender: Posts: 18,304 Thanks: 1 Thanked 13 Times in 10 Posts	lol, that's smart of them.