Soda Tax, your thoughts?
 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellnes...ory?id=8594299

What do you think about placing a tax on soda?

They also want to tax chocolate ...

I'd like to fucking punch these assholes in the face that's how I feel about it... look I'm 6'1" 155 lbs, I can drink all the damn soda I want...

Why not just tax, you know, people with a certain BMI or something? Wouldn't that be more effective? This taxation is getting way out of control...

I don't think it will stop people from drinking it, all the new taxes we have had here in NC are totally fucking ridiculous IMO.

great idea, you kill 2 birds with one stone, raise revenue + also reduces health care expenses down the road... :thumbsup

Are you serious? You think I should pay more money for my soda because my neighbor has no self control and can't stop shoving food into their suck?

The more taxes the better! yay!!!

I hate taxes and am opposed to them in principle.... but if the government is going to tax things it makes sense to tax the consumption of harmful stuff like soda or alcohol rather than income or investments.

Thank god the constitution was written in Pencil. Because Taxes were illegal. at least for a while.

Many states are deficit now a days, so it's either this, or plan B which is to just raise taxes somewhere else, and you will pay for it anyway... with this plan at least your neighbor will pay more for his lack of self control than he does now...

I don't mind that they tax soda, go ahead, just don't tax my pop :winkwink:

It's pretty fucking stupid if you ask me, for one, it's gonna hurt the companies that produce pop like Coke and Pepsi financially because even the people that aren't obese might cut back on drinking it because of the price.

Some assholes have too much time on their hands to come up with stupid ideas like this. Hey, I just thought of a great idea, why don't we add more taxes to gasoline, to get all the obese people to walk or ride their bikes more ??? We can also tack on a nice tax increase to all the fast food restaurants out there and while we're at it, give tax credits to those that have gym memberships.

How about... gasp... smaller government?!

yea, that's best, but realistically that's not going to happen...

What size of tax are we talking about?
I don't think you could make such a rather cheap product like soda unattractive by adding tax. People will still buy it, even if it costs twice as much. You might hit some poor people with it. But think about it - if you are fat, you can obviously afford a lot of food. I don't think it would hurt enough to stop drinking soda.

What determines a soda, anyway? You cannot enforce such a tax. If it was to be introduced, it would have to be a tax on the sugar level of all beverages. And while they were at it, they could just as well apply the tax on food and sweets.

IMHO the PROBLEM will happen if they only tax non-diet sodas and claim it is for "health" reasons. Get ready for class action lawsuits from people saying the aspertame or nutrisweet or other artificial sweetners caused their cancers or other problems. Our FDA has no credibility left as it is, and now the government at large is going to ENDORSE these products as healthier?? They'd better have looking glasses into the future on this one. Lawsuits galore, coming right up.

And I would add that if they want to tax sugar-sweetened soft drinks and products, then they should tax the corporations who use it. Or ban sugar as a sweetner. Why lay it on the end consumer?

I only drink diet soda, and tea so I guess I would not be affected, but I just don't like all these sin taxes. A beer at the tavern used to cost about 60 cents before they started adding sin taxes on. I don't know what the actual cost is these days, but I choke paying 4x the price in taxes.

Try being realistic. :2 cents:

On one hand you wouldn't have to pay this tax if you do not buy these products, as junk food is bad for you, and non-essential - like a tax on cigarettes.

On the flip-side however, I also think it can become a slippery slope; candy bars are bad for you, sugary cereals are bad for you, ice cream is bad for you, cheeseburgers are bad for you, etc.

The other big problem I have with this, is that diet drinks will not carry this proposed tax, but aspertame is even more dangerous to your health than corn syrup or sugar, and what about foods with MSG, high saturated fat levels, heavy metals, etc?

It's complicated, but I do believe our food choices should be healthier in general. As long as the US diet consists of corn syrup, MSG, aspertame, and tons of processed foods, coupled with less exercise than ever before, clearly SOMETHING must be done before we are either all obese, or paying for all of those of us who are, via higher health care costs.

I am pro-capitalism, but I am anti-large corporate interests. We should not become lab experiments for the big corps, while they rack in giant profits. When sodas used sugar instead of corn syrup things were not this bad, but corn syrup is cheaper, so now the junk foods we consume are more harmful than ever before, and don't even get me started on aspertame...

Studies done on schools that removed soda machines and replaced them with machines that dispensed real fruit juice showed virtually no difference in obesity among it's students. Naturally occurring sugar can be abused as well. Nobody intends for us to drink a gallon of natural orange juice, only a small glass once per day.

Beware the "healthier choice" baloney, it's just a demarcation "tax from here......... to here".

Governments will tax anything under the pretends of health, they are just being creative in raising tax income and don't really care about you being fat or not

I have always supported a 500%+ tax on unhealthy food. I have no problem with it. You can be skinny, gay, black or white - the fact remains the shit is NOT good for you. No one should drink it.

You're completely correct. But the bi product of it is that people MAY get healthier. So it's a good thing even in principal. Tax cigs, shitty food, whatever in any time. It's not good for you.

If that's the case, why not simply ban anything unhealthy?

Pretty dumb idea.. I mean lets get real, sure sodas aren't good for you, but they aren't the reason people are fat.. They should tax McDonnalds and so on if that were the case or all the other junk food out there.. Why just single out one product?

Did the soda companies not pay their lobbyist or something this month?

Another possible solution could be to impose higher taxes and/or penalty fees on the companies that are poisoning us. Simply clarify what products are considered poisonous and/or harmful, and penalize accordingly. We all know corn syrup, MSG, processed flour, lead, mercury, and aspertame are all horrible for us (as a starting point), so it should cost more for the big corps to poison us with these type of things.

The problem is that the big corp interests run Washington, and that fact becomes more and more obvious every fucking day.

Rather than demonizing Obama, the whole country should unite against these big corp interests instead. These companies are happy when we redirect our anger on the Dem-Rep battle. They do their best to fan the flames. This takes the spotlight off of them, allowing them the freedom to do whatever they want.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo..........

I went to my children's back to school night to meet their teachers and get an overview of school shit. Same old bullshit until one teacher had a glass jar filled with M&M?S® and we had to guess how many were in there. The winner was an obese woman. I was like great she'll probably just save them or use them as a treat. Well, she made a comment that made heads turn. She said, "I'm gonna give it to the kids as a snack before they go to bed."
Turns out that all of her kids are obese and bring soda to lunch.

I don't think she consciously knows that she is killing her kids or the very least making them ill. Taxing soda would not even address the obesity problem we have in the United States.

A parent who is obese and has children who are obese should be required to go to a some kind of "AA" meeting. This meeting should educate them on foods that are healthy and what to feed a growing child. Obesity seems like a cycle because obese people hang out with other obese people.

No matter what you tax people will be upset... I don't see that much of a problem honestly.

So, they want to collect more of that paper stuff that they put value on from sales of beverages, that companies manufacture to generate more paper stuff that they put value on? All the while, these products, and valuable paper are being taken from the Earth and not returned. So, in essense, humans steal from the planet, then put value on the things they steal, then try forcing other humans to purchase stolen goods with valuable paper that was also stolen from the Earth.

Honestly, it's all just a big joke IMO.

Its all about how you "frame" the argument against "big corp". Republicans have become masters at protecting their interest and framing the argument to their favor.

What I want to know is this... Once they collect all this valuable paper, where does it go? Do they use it to better the planet for everyone? Or do they use it to generate more nonsensical valuable paper transactions globally for other various stolen goods?

One proposal is calling for what works out to be a 12% tax.

They do it here, I just wait until the pop goes on sale for a great price and then stock up

Unhealthy by what criteria? I have a friend who is a vegetarian who thinks meat isn't healthy. Is that what you mean by unhealthy? Meat?

I totally agree. The manipulation and misinformation in this country is at an all-time high right now. Tons of people rallying against their own interests... it's very sad.

So we know what kind of numbers we are talkiing about ...

"a review conducted by Yale University?s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity suggested that for every 10 percent increase in price, consumption decreases by 7.8 percent."

or just actually teach people better ways of eating...weird concept, I know

Interesting angle considering meat is carcinogenic, and sugar isn't. This type of tax definitely opens doors to lots of questions regarding "healthy vs unhealthy."

Taxing carcinogens or taxing sugar, which would help us more? :1orglaugh

So is the government going to write a check on the backend to the pepsi's and coca colas of the world when profits plunge? Or will the fat pigs keep slurping it up?

I know for me when NY state entertained this idea, I stopped buying soda altogether. Now, do I buy Kool Aid in the canister pre-mixed with sugar? Or the unsweetned packets along with packets of Splenda?

Maybe a health chart should be created, and the companies that provide the products we consume should be taxed and penalized as follows. This would require a non-biased group of experts of course, but for example...

Naturally raised beef, with no growth hormones or antibiotics = no extra taxes or penalties.
Modified beef, filled with growth hormones and antibiotics = extra taxes and penalties.

Drinks sweetened with real sugar = no extra taxes or penalties.
Drinks sweetened with corn syrups and/or poisonous sweeteners = extra taxes and penalties.

Bread products made with whole grains = no extra taxes or penalties.
Bread products made with processed flour = extra taxes and penalties.

This could force the companies that provide our food to think twice before poisoning us, as their profits will be higher if their products are healthier.

Just a thought....

That's high as shit, they raised the sales tax here from 7.5 up to 8.75%. 3 years ago they raised it from 6.5 to 7.5 and told everyone it was only for 2 yeas boom you think they took it back down? NO LMAO , this hike is going to go back to 7.5 in 2 years LMFAO! It's Government great? They have raised the Sin tax (smokes and alcohol) and on top of that raise now they kick in another 8.75%.

The govt pays subsidies to farmers which drives the price of food down and encourages things like corn syrup. So now they want to tax the bad food that comes from this policy. In a round about way its double taxation, since our taxes pay the subsidies to begin with. I question the logic, since when do more taxes solve bad govt policies?

If a family or a person is on a limited budget, they are WAY more likely to make bad food decisions, as unhealthy foods are much cheaper, and easier to find.

You can feed a family of five at a fast food joint for around $20 - you can buy lots of processed food and crap meat (like hot dogs and bologna), plus sugary drinks at the supermarket for five people, for around $20 as well.

If you want natural foods, organic meats and vegetables, fresh fruit, healthy drinks, whole grain breads, etc.... it will be much more difficult (if not impossible) to accomplish for that same $20 budget.

Sure, you can probably live on beans and brown rice for a while, but your variety of food combinations in that price range will be very limited.

Ideally it should cost MORE to eat crap, and LESS to eat healthy.

That should be the challenge we take on. Tax BREAKS for healthy farmers and food producers, and taxes and penalties for those who wish to poison us.

Unhealthy food being cheaper is a myth. What is usually meant it unhealthy food that you don't have to actually cook is cheaper than healthy foods. Very basic vegetables are not expensive..spuds, carrots, onion, etc but you need to be able to cook a bit to make them into the cheap meals they can be.

New Coke? Marketing fears? Who cares?

Good idea tho, if it curbs the drinking of sugar-water. That's why our kids are so fat, and us, too, so anything that reduces the consumption is ok with me. Of course, what a slippery slope, eh? We could be next: a porn tax! Hey, if it reduces the consumption of porn some relegious nuts might think it's a good thing and start lobbying for it.

So ultimately: fuck the tax. Never give an inch, they take a mile.

Let's cut out the bullshit. Instead of taxing unhealthy food thay should just tax people for being fat asses. a Fat Bastard Tax. And yes, that means my taxes will be going up if passed lol

Fine. when you get diabetes don't ask for MY tax dollars to pay for your treatment then.

Looks like i'm going to start bootlegging Dr. Pepper! :pimp

I drank way too much soda growing up because my mom didnt know any better to stop me.. I'm a pretty skinny guy but not in shape.. now I have a soda once a while.. soo sugary

its just another way for the government to get more of our $$$$

stupid idea, get rid of the Fed and we'll have all the money we need!

Soda (even diet) is extremely bad for you and extremely bad for kids.

If your kids drink Soda, make them stop, and they will behave better and sleep better, and clear up acne. Cut all sugar and caffeine and watch the change is amazing.

Drink 2+ sodas a day? Do you have a gut, are you fat, can't lose those few extra pounds? Stop drinking all Soda's... and in 30 days you will drop 10-30 lbs of weight. Really..

Do you work out? Want to get stronger, run faster, feel better, breath better, get more oxygen to your body? Stop drinking Soda and Beer.. the carbon is bad for you.


I do not support taxing Soda's, Smokes, etc.. but I do understand it and it is a national health problem.. so it's a toss up, something has to give.