The president today challenged Republicans to "go ahead and repeal" the just-enacted healthcare law, knowing full well that an all-out repeal movement would send the GOP packing along the same route as the Whig Party, which withered away after the presidency of the one-and-only Millard Fillmore.
Will the Republicans go ahead and make Barack's day by flipping their wigs? Stay tuned.The New York Times editorial page today heaped praise on First Lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign, which kicked off last year when "she dug up a patch of the South Lawn to plant a White House vegetable garden." Her effort involved extensive outreach to improve nutrition and chide the food industry into reformulating products so they contain "less fat, salt and sugar, and more of the nutrients that the kids need."
Mrs. Obama certainly is no wallflower. One of her appearances was before the Grocery Manufacturers Association, where she criticized members for not moving fast enough on the healthy food front. She also rapped the food and beverage industry's marketing to children.
Early results are good. U.S. soda sales fell 2.1 percent last year, according to Beverage Digest, an industry publication. The reasons though are not exactly clear. It could be the bum economy, but the bottom line is that soft drink volume fell.
Pepsi, which had already pulled its soft drinks from U.S. classrooms, announced last week that its school withdrawal plan is going global. That is a huge deal, according to the World Heart Federation, because the sale of sugary drinks is a growth market in the developing world. Billions are at stake.
Will market leader Coca-Cola follow? Following the leadership of Pepsi would only lead to good PR for Coke, which can use all the reputation help it can get.
As the spring season begins, the First Lady is focused on her "Let’s Move" campaign designed to get kids more active. A major information campaign is in the works as media companies such as Walt Disney Co., NBC, Warner Bros. and Viacom slate public service announcements to encourage kids to get busy.
Here’s a tip for the First Lady: today's New York Daily News has an item about the first bathroom scale that can send weight and body mass information online. One scale even boasts of Twitter capability. Yikes!
If U.S. households were equipped with those scales -- and people were encouraged to use them -- you can bet kids and their parents would definitely cry out "Let's Move" away from dessert tables across the country.
(Image: MSNBC)
