Brace yourselves for the Soda Tax
Occasionally, I’ll drink a can of soda, but it seems that the Democrats in Congress believe a soda tax will help address our health care crisis. According to The Wall Street Journal, some of the Democrats who serve on the Senate Finance Committee will be addressing this issue during a hearing, as they believe that it will curb obesity in America. This has raised some ire from the American Beverage Association, who made a strong point.
“Taxes are not going to teach our children how to have a healthy lifestyle,” said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association. Instead, the association says it’s backing programs that limit sugary beverage consumption in schools.
How ridiculous! What next, will they be taxing potato chips, cupcakes or other junk food items? Talk about an intrusion into your rights. It is the choice of the person whether they adhere to healthy choices or not. The government should not intrude into our lives and tax us further on our choices, etc. It is not going to solve the health care crisis in this country.
Posted on May 12, 2009, in Economy, Virginia Politics and tagged Fairfax County, Taxes, Virginia. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Krystle, I think its clear that this bill is designed not only to further erode personal choice to lead us further down the road to statism but also to destroy the Republican campaign operatives who might be able to stand in the way. With a tax on soda (and presumably Red Bull as well), how will field guys such as myself be able to make it through 18 hour days? The Democrats will be unaffected, of course, as they subsist on lattes and green tea.
On a serious note, I think you’re absolutely right. I would add that this began with the smoking bans–open the door to the notion that controlling personal choices that only harm the individual who subjects themselves to the environment by going after a generally despised class of individuals (smokers), then continue on to the next target.
Granted this is coming from Congress. But it once again flies in the face of Obama’s “if you make less than [insert daily campaign amount here] your taxes will not go up.” Who drinks most of the soda in this country? I would suspect a study would show that it’s teenagers and lower income families.
My health is more threatened by this and Obamacare than it is by soda and second hand smoke.