At least, that was my opinion when first reading the article, until I saw the numbers: $2.7 billion in 10 years.

Jackpot.

Now, I think the legislation doesn’t go far enough. We already tax tobacco and alcohol, which studies have shown to have some negative health effects. But there is so much potential tax revenue out there that our federal government isn’t even considering.

So I propose a new bill to be introduced to the house floor, called the Health and Body Improvement Tax, or HABIT bill. HABIT will help improve individual health from high cholesterol and lower obesity rates, while curing the nation of illness like a cancerous national debt of $12 trillion, or focus on paying for national health care.

So how does it work? Simply put, tax everything that could be unhealthy. We’ll start by a 10 percent sales tax of all foods containing more than 10 grams of fat. That means everything but a few salads and a regular hamburger from McDonald’s will see an increase in taxes. Burger King gives you a few more options, but don’t go over the double cheeseburger. If tax dollars are paying for your emergency triple bypass after living off of Whoppers, it’s only fair that you should chip in with every bite of flame-broiled beef.

It’s estimated that more than 550 million Big Macs are sold each year. If all of those tasty burgers were consumed in America at a cost of about $3.50 each, then you’ve got $192.5 million we could throw in to pay for the health care costs.

This wouldn’t be limited to just fast food restaurants. Red meats from the grocery, plus snack foods such as Doritos all would qualify.

The bill also would have a 5 percent tax on high fructose corn syrup, which has been linked in multiple studies to weight gain. Every dollar someone spends on candies, cookies or soft drinks would be reinvested into the country. With the HABIT tax, your bad habits will help heal America.

Of course, we need to reward healthy life choices as well. So every healthy choice made in one year can be written off as a “Good HABIT” tax incentive. Save the receipt on every one of your Tae Bo DVDs, because now they’re eligible for a tax break. If you sign up with a personal trainer, you could save thousands of dollars on your taxes every year. Every two hours you exercise can count toward a write-off as well, provided you keep authentic documentation to prove you went on that marathon run.

Even the foods you buy can be written off before April 15. Looking for a tax shelter? Become a vegan and eat only the finest organic foods. Starting a red wine collection is another great tax break, since a bottle of expensive wine can cost more than $1,000. Foods bought at the local farmer’s market also will be eligible, provided that they are grown organically.

Opponents to the HABIT bill will claim that it’s unfair to tax people on what they eat. I disagree, since your diet and lifestyle habits affect a majority of you health costs. Those who eat poorly and don’t exercise are most likely to have a serious injury. So people are actively making a choice. Do you put more effort into staying healthy to avoid the new taxes? Or do you continue not exercising and eating unhealthy foods and pay taxes to cover the gastric bypass that you’ll have in the future?

With all these new regulations and loopholes, we need to have a governing body to regulate it all. So the bill also will create the Health Revenue Service, or HRS, to make sure people are filing their HABIT taxes truthfully. The HRS will need to hire dietitians, personal trainers and accountants who regulate the claims. If the HRS catches you cheating on your HABITs, you’ll either pay a fine or work your debt off by running on a treadmill. And you’ll be paying interest, so those 500 miles you said you ran will now become 530 miles.

The Heath And Body Improvement Tax can help address the national debt, the national obesity rates and even create new jobs. Simply put, this legislation makes taxpayers pay for health insurance up-front, rewards them for healthy lifestyles and gives America a way to fix all its problems in one little bill. It’s such a crazy idea that it just might work.

Matt Mikus is a State News guest columnist and journalism senior. Reach him at mikusmat@msu.edu.