Free Republic

Like I said a few weeks ago, this was always the goal of the otherwise dumb soda regs. A restriction on portion sizes makes no sense when it's limited to one kind of beverage and a select few types of vendors except as a way to inure the public to more draconian regulations down the line. Ban big sodas now, let people get used to it, and then if/when the city's obesity rate dips --- for whatever reason(s) --- flog the hell out of those statistics as proof that dietary nannyism works and should be pursued more aggressively. No surprise,...

Michael Bloomberg seems to have a knack for bringing out almost everybody's inner libertarian. The billionaire mayor of New York has spent an inordinate amount of his three terms trying to take away our cigarettes, trans-fats - and now, the Big Gulp! Even Jon Stewart couldn't resist the path of least comedic resistance, defending his demographic's right to drown itself in buckets of Berry Citrus Slam Slurpee. As a card-carrying free market economist, I'm uneasy about the proposed ban, too. For one thing, it's a bit arbitrary: Starbucks' equally sugary venti (24 ounce) Caramel Frappuccino clocks in at 510 calories,...