Sugar Tax Exposes the Nefarious Insanity of Modern Liberalism

In introducing the nefarious Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax Act of 2014, known as the SWEET Act, Democrat Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) exposed for the American people the true insanity of modern liberalism. The bill (H.R. 5279), which seeks to "diminish the human and economic costs of diabetes, obesity, dental caries, and other diet related health conditions" would impose an additional tax of one cent on every 4.2 grams (about a teaspoon) of "caloric sweetener." Full text of the proposed bill can be found at Food Politics.

DeLauro has this nation as tremendous service, although not in the manner she intended. What she has done is provide us all a rare glimpse into the mind of the modern liberal-progressive mind. No single bill or policy initiative of Democrats in the current congressional session better explains where these people are coming from and how they view their role in the life of the citizen. Simply put, Rep. Rosa DeLauro feels she needs to punish us in order to save us.

While few Americans enjoy taxation, even the most conservative and libertarian among us begrudgingly acknowledge its necessity in funding the needs of a limited government to facilitate civic matters of the people. Taxes are levied against business, the worker, the landowner and consumer so that we may fund the needs of government and those we elect debate over the needed levels. The SWEET Act, however, transforms taxation from a revenue source into a punitive weapon of the federal government to drive the behaviors of every single man, woman and child in our nation.

DeLauro certainly did not invent the concept of the sin tax as it encroaches into our lives on various in various forms on local, state and federal levels. What makes the sugar tax unique is both its scope and that it provides us, in DeLauro's own words, a glimpse into the madness that is the modern liberal-progressive mind and the callous disregard for individual liberty and self-determination shown by today's Democratic Party. The following video, provided by our friends at CNS News, was presented by Rep. DeLauro at this years National Soda Summit.

As astonish an example of delusional self-importance this may be, the Connecticut Democrat is absolutely correct in stating, "when the price of a two liter soda is 99 cents and blueberries are three dollars, something is very wrong." DeLauro also properly diagnoses the source of the problem when she declares, "This is not just the free market at work. All too often sugary foods or drinks with high fructose corn syrup are cheaper as a direct result of government policies."

That she recognizes the source of the disparity and yet proposes the solution makes H.R. 5279 all the more nefarious and insane. Rather than look into the massive amount of bureaucracy, regulation, waste, fraud and government mismanagement that hampers the American farmer her solution is to double-down on the problem and pass more "policies that work toward better health instead." This, ladies and gentlemen is the insane.

The nefarious, of course, is the social engineering aspect attached which in typically liberal-progressive fashion, DeLauro masks as concern for the poor." And of course, many times it is the sugary food and drinks that are easiest for families that are living on the edge of poverty to afford," she appeals, conjuring images of sagging-diapered toddlers enjoying their evening meal of Dr. Pepper and Jalapeno Cheetos. While it is beyond obvious that having more money is advantageous in all consumer matters, it is both disingenuous and insulting to insinuate that those of less means are incapable of providing a healthy and delicious dietary options to their families. To compound their hypocrisy, Democratic Party sugar taxes, by their own admission, will disproportionately harm poorer Americans.

Growing up we had some good years and we had some bad years and all in between, like so many American families. Whether times were good or bad my brother and I never went without a diverse and healthy set of daily meals prepared by Mom (Dad tried but he's just not a cook) that to this day I can close my eyes and almost taste. Even the more inventive recipes meant to (unbeknownst to my brother and I) stretch our food dollars during the lean years I still utilize today, although I can never get it exactly right.

My mother-in-law is a first generation immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico. As her and her husband charted the path of methodical improvement that so many our nations families have, she established a hearty and healthy diet for her family that may have increased in options over the years, but at no point made sugary foods a necessity to sustain life.

These lesson from family have been put into practice, with mixed results. On the positive side my eight year old daughter has yet to take one sip of soda in her entire life. This is not to say she doesn't get to enjoy sweets, but a parental decision we made, as we have both ingested more than we most likely should have in our lives, decisions we made of free will.

And that is the entire point of it all and why liberals like DeLauro, even if their intents are pure, are dangerous people. For the state to take punitive measures against its citizenry in order to drive any behavior, but particularly one so a part of everyday life is a form of government tyranny. However benign liberals attempt to dress this up as, the SWEET Act is a direct attack on the Joie de vivre of the human experience.

There is reason we serve cake on birthdays. There is a reason we place fatty pork or red meat over burning charcoal doused in flammable fluids and gorge on it during football games. There is also a reason we open up an ice cold can of soda on a hot day, as well as the other "cold one" that government punishes us for enjoying via taxation.

These things are the very celebration of life itself. As free and responsible adults, we all know the excess of anything will be our undoing. There are few among us who can say they've never chastised themselves about our indulgences. Many of us have experienced the internal debate with ourselves as to whether we should cook at home or just run through the drive-thru with fast food winning more than its fair share.

Nefarious as it is insane, the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax Act of 2014 (SWEET Act) exposes modern liberalism as not just a nanny-state but a nagging one at that, taxing us on sugar. Speaking honestly to one another, as Americans we must admit that we are indeed overweight and out of shape. But we also know there is no one else to blame but ourselves when we overindulge. We all need to treat ourselves once in a while in order to achieve proper balance in life, but we also know that too much celebration will lead to one hell of a hangover and thus need to display a certain level of self-control. What we don't need is government to rub it in our faces at a penny a teaspoon.

The same liberal insanity is very evident with cigarette taxes. The supposed purpose in raising cigarette taxes is to discourage people from smoking. If smoking were as deadly as represented by the anti-smoking zealots that is filling our hospitals and killing little babies in their beds the only moral choice would be to ban tobacco altogether. Legislators however are hypocritically content to use the tax revenues from cigarettes to balance their budgets...the ultimate death tax. Minnesota has for example raised the price cigarettes to well over $8 a pack using the revenues to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings were fans will eat unhealthy food, drink beer and likely raise their blood pressure as they watch the games.

For the good of society, LIBs should be heavily taxed. Every time the voice a LIB thought, they should have tp pay $100. For the better good...

“I used to laugh at the line from the old Beatles song, “they’ll tax the air you breathe...” Prophetic.”

Yep. I think about it every time “they” propose a carbon tax. Buncha damn communist’s.

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