On Politics, We Can Always See the Whites of Their Eyes.
Dems Consider National "Fat Tax" on Soda, Pleeease Do This
by: Bill Dupray posted: 2009-05-12 11:35:00
Viewed 1279 times. 10 Comments.
Welcome Gateway Pundit readers! Thanks to GP for the link.
Memo to Democrats:
Tax that soda in a big way. Make it hurt. Make it a buck a can. After all, Coke and Pepsi are really bad for us and there is nobody better than you to make sure we eat and drink the right foods. Plus, the benefits of such a tax would make it a lot easier to pay for Nationalized Health Care, which will be really expensive.
From the Wall Street Journal.
Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation's health-care system. . . .The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.
And listen to these experts, who clearly know better than we just how dangerous some foods really are. Frankly, why stop at soda? I think Congress should get into planning menus at restaurants, and taxing the bejesus out of other stuff the experts say is really bad for you, like alcohol. Oh wait, look here.
"Soda is clearly [me - sounds a little like "the science is settled"] one of the most harmful products in the food supply, and it's something government should discourage the consumption of," Mr. Jacobson said. . . .The beverage-tax proposal would apply to drinks that many Americans don't consider unhealthy -- such as PepsiCo's Gatorade and Kraft's Capri Sun -- based on their calorie content.
Health advocates are floating other so-called sin tax proposals and food regulations as part of the government's health-care overhaul. Mr. Jacobson also plans to propose Tuesday that the government sharply raise taxes on alcohol, move to largely eliminate artificial trans fat from food and move to reduce the sodium content in packaged and restaurant food.
All super ideas. Again, please do this, even if just for the children.
Pay no attention to the fact that people might look at it as a middle class tax increase. And ignore the fact that New York Governor David Paterson's approval numbers headed into the toilet (he's at 19% now) when he proposed (and then dropped) the same tax in New York. In fact, disregard the fact that the first anti-tax Tea Party this year took place well before Rick Santelli's much-watched rant. It happened in Binghamton, New York earlier this winter as a direct result of the proposed fat tax on soda. The participants dumped soda into the river in protest.
We covered it and our post is here. This is the video.
Democrats should man-up and do the right thing here. Raise the tax on soda to the point that nobody can afford to buy it. It is what is best for the people, even if they don't realize it. You will sleep well knowing that your intentions were noble, just, and righteous, and when you are out of a job next November, you will know that you were thrown out of office by a bunch of brain-dead, soda-loving peasants who are too stupid to know their superiors when they see them.
Thanks to Carol D. for the tip.
Tags: Taxes, Congress, Liberals,
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Comments 10
How much longer before the rest of America joins us at the TEA PARTIES? When their soda and potato chips are taxed too much? Kool-aid and Twinkies? Or electric, gas, cars, insurance, internet, housing, food, clothing, entertainment and even air to breathe (that's what Cap and Trade is, tax to breathe air.)is unattainable? Oh wait,it's already getting there. You see the TEA PARTIES weren't just about Taxes, it was about the corruption in our congress, wall street and the White House. By BOTH parties! And they have forgotten they work for us. - When the people fear the government that is tyranny. When the government fears We the People, there is liberty ! -One of the Founding Fathers of the Constitution
Is that you Fred Thompson? Sure sounds like our conservative stalwart.
Just keep it up! Keep taxing liberals! It will produce the opposite result from what you intend.
Colorado just increased the cigaratte tax to a dollar a pack and surprise! Total cigarette tax revenue decreased! People quit smoking. Now the lefties that run Colorado are looking for something else to tax.
Conservatives need to hang in there... The lefties will be stewing in their failures by the end of this year. Unfortunately, a good number of Americans will remain unemployed because of it.
Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stonger and wiser. And the good thing is that tax increases can be repealed. Hopefully a new generation of Americans learns from this, votes them out, and gives the Dems 20 years out of power to think about what they did wrong.
The science is settled. High fructose corn syrup, HFCS, is an unnatural poison. We don't have to tax it, just eliminate the illegal sugar tariffs that prohibit manufacturers from using cheaper and healthier sugar.
Corn syrup is an expensive and nasty business involving very toxic chemicals. On top of that, it requires ridiculously expensive infrastructure. The product screws up our blood sugar, breaks our proteins, and is more likely than other forms of sugar too be stored as fat.
Consider these aspects of HFCS when the alternative is to squeeze sugar out of sugar cane in a giant roller. Alas, sugar cane doesn't grow well in the states so we need to crap on free trade and support our farmers with needless subsidies that also degrade the health of the nation.
I really don't understand why the insurance companies haven't figured it all out. Exercise and diet are the easiest ways to promote healthiness and reduce medical claims. Cheap blood work and a quick physical should be used to dictate insurance premiums. Are you a fatso who eats right and exercises regularly (read: rare occurrence)? Then tough luck, like the responsible 17 year old driver, you are screwed. If you constantly seek medical care, then like someone who has had lots of auto accidents, you probably should be paying a higher premium. IMO, this is a better alternative that having society collectively subsidize poor health, even if it infringes on your right to be a lazy, fat pig.
If we need to tax such a minor luxury item in order to pay for national healthcare, maybe we should rethink this whole idea of national healtcare.
I think you miss the main point which is that this 'minor luxury item' costs the health care system and tax payers big money. I am not in favor of taxes, but I support high taxes on ridiculous garbage over the present situation. IMO, the optimum solution is to have unhealthy people pay for their own health care. It is cheap and quick to determine who these people are. I only ask that they pay for their poor choices instead of me. It is fallacy that poor people have to eat unhealthy. The main problem is some combination of lack of education about healthy eating and laziness.
Food stamps are a great solution if implemented correctly. They should be limited to rice, pasta, beans and canned vegetables. No meat. No sugar. No fruit. In fact, I think even if these food stamps were issued to anyone who wanted them, we would come out far ahead of where we are now.
I'm proud of my hometown...and for those of you who have never been there, that's what spring looks like in Binghamton:)
In all seriousness, the Obama administration should take a look at Paterson's numbers right now. Upstate New Yorkers didn't care too much about Paterson's affair -- they're so tired of all of that -- and didn't get too wrapped around the axel about Caroline Kennedy (although both hurt to a relatively slight extent) but this really did it.
They should also consider how it makes sense to base revenue projections on "sin taxes", when the goals of reducing the "sin" and maximizing the revenue are in complete opposition to each other. It makes about as much sense as using a cigarette tax for that purpose. What happens when the entitlement is entrenched and the money runs dry?
I don't think a fat tax is very practical - there are several things wrong with Pigouvian taxes in general. They are hard to calculate because it is impossible to determine the exact amount of externality caused, in this case by obesity, and they affect different people in different ways! Here is an article about why a fat tax wouldn't work: http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/Global-Economics/Fat-Tax/sl35291137bp387cpp10pn1.html
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First cigarettes, and now soda. What's next? Fast food? Is there nothing consumed disproportionately by the poorest among us that they won't tax? "While I'll reduce taxes on 95% of working families, I'll raise taxes on 100% of those that don't work."
I am so upset. I think I'll listen to some Beatles - same song over and over again:
Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
Cos I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
...