Rise of the Soda Jerks - The case against sin taxes for soft drinks

Reason ^ | May 13, 2009 | David Harsanyi

[neverdem]

"And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the Pepsi drinker!"

There has to be a statement about soft drinks tucked somewhere in Leviticus. I have assurances, after all, that such beverages are wicked.

Sin taxes normally are levied on so-called vices, such as drinking, smoking, and gambling. Now Congress is "studying" a proposal to legislate morality by taxing sugary beverages—which is to say, it is "studying" whether such a tax would be politically feasible.

According to the executive director of the Center for "Science" in the Public Interest—a group that has been pushing this tax, along with a glut of other tragic nonsense—"Soda is clearly one of the most harmful products in the food supply, and it's something government should discourage the consumption of."

There is nothing "clear" about it. Soda can be harmful; it can be harmless; and it is always tasty with a cheese-infused burrito, which we should affix with a massive "discouragement" tax if we're going to be consistent about our gut-busting peccadilloes.

The selective tax also would pursue energy and fruit drinks but not politically correct high-everything beverages, such as Frappuccinos. No one wants a violent insurrection in the malls and trendy urban cores of America.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest also wants government to "pressure" food companies to produce healthier fare (because, god knows, there are barely any wholesome options available for the masses), dramatically raise taxes on alcohol (what fresh hell is this?) and dictate the level of sodium allowable in packaged and restaurant food.

The CSPI is the group that once laughably claimed that 150,000 people perish yearly from salt intake (the "Forgotten Killer") despite lack of any evidence and the ongoing debate regarding the real effects of sodium.

Beyond the health issues, you may want to ask yourself whether it's appropriate for government to use taxes as a tool for strategic social engineering.

Isn't it counterproductive to pass one-size-fits-all punitive taxes that target the recreational ginger ale drinker, along with the depraved Coca-Cola abuser?

Or is it government's job to provide transparency, allowing consumers to make smart decisions—or not—about what they ingest?

We already have set a precedent with cigarettes. And the argument most often employed by sin tax proponents revolves around economic externalities—or the idea that everyone shouldn't have to pay for the destructive habits of the few. (Though there is evidence that the societal cost of the obese is largely inflated, as it were.) I have a lot of sympathy for this argument. So perhaps all citizens can begin taking fiscal and moral responsibility for their own behavior....

...I'm just kidding. That's crazy talk.

But once we start rationing health care, externalities will only become more of an issue. If we collectively pay for health insurance, then what is to stop the majority of us from dictating to the minority what it can eat or drink?

What would stop Republicans—after they roar back to power in 2048—from levying sin taxes on promiscuous behavior? After all, promiscuity burdens all taxpayers through sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and Lindsay Lohan.

If government continues to manage social behavior through taxation, why not give it a shot? It's the moral thing to do.

David Harsanyi is a columnist at The Denver Post and the author of Nanny State. Visit his Web site at www.DavidHarsanyi.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 THE DENVER POST
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

[neverdem]

Nanny State/Health Nazi Ping

[NurdlyPeon]

It’s just MORE TAXES!!! Who cares about the whats or the whos. It’s just MORE TAXES!!!!

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Michael Jacobson of the CPSI and I think it was Dr. Sidney Wolfe, too, have been the food nazis since the 70’s. I exposed Jacobson’s ties to a communist anti-Vietnam front in my 1971 testimony to Congress.

He is a health fanatic of the worst kind - he wants to tell you how to live, and punish you if you don’t obey him. That is why I call him a “food nazi” or “food fascist”.

“You will eat only one egg, or else!”

[ponygirl]

I was having a conversation about this topic today. I pointed out to someone that if ObamaCare goes through, you can say goodbye smoking, alcohol, soft drinks, potato chips, Taco Bell, and even those cupcakes with the sugary icing. You can also kiss off GUNS, motorcycles, skiing, horseback riding, or even playing hockey. Say goodbye to Pop Warner football, X-acto knives, 4-wheel drives, riding in a convertible, and definitely your weekend skydiving habit. Oh, and don't forget BAGELS! (An ER doc once told me that the number one accident in his ER was from people cutting their hands while trying to slice a bagel.)

Next time I go into REI, I'd like to grab the neck of one of those hippie granola a$$holes that are buying climbing gear (who drive the Subaru Foresters with the Obama bumper stickers on them) and explain the situation to them. "Do you think Obama's going to let you climb up the side of Half Dome if he's paying for your health care? NOT."

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

What is going on is the liberal version of obsessive compulsive disorder. They are counting up imagined and projected costs of all kinds of things. By the same reasoning, they should tax metrosexuals since HIV and STDs are very costly.

There is no basis in science that EVERYONE who drinks Coca-Cola has higher medical bills than anyone else. What's next, taxing people who live near deer crossings because there are more auto accidents in such regions? Taxing women because they are more likely to run up costs from molestations and assaults? Extra tax on people who drive to work? On people who cook on gas stoves?

[freedumb2003]

The irony is that consumption taxes, particularly on “bad” products are disproportionally regressive on democrat constituents.

Most middle-class people and above have found alternatives by now. It is the poor who hit the junk food the most.

But that is why they are poor — because they are kinda dumb.

[umgud]

Anything that can be demonized can be taxed.

[MamaDearest]

I’ve been hearing from avowed liberals they are becoming DISGUSTED with the onslaught of taxes Democrats are proposing and implementing. Even Democrats want to keep what little money they have left in their own billfolds and not fill the government’s back pocket. If they tax colas, mark my word, it won’t be long until coffee gets the same treatment.

[eyedigress]

and it only applies to 5% of the country.

[dalereed]

Eliminate all the programs that aren’t allowed in the Constitution and they could eliminate almost all yaxes!

The biggest being all forms of welfare!

I contend that a bastard meaning of the welfare clause should be overturned since it says “to promote the welfare of the US” and promotion is a state dept function of mouthing off and in no way should one cent be spent to “promote”.

No more medical care, food stamps, rent subsidy, welfare, or “earned income tax credit”!!!

[MamaDearest]

Next time I go into REI, I'd like to grab the neck of one of those hippie granola a$$holes that are buying climbing gear (who drive the Subaru Foresters with the Obama bumper stickers on them) and explain the situation to them.

We were told by an REI employee's son that his father wouldn't let him bike down to see our son because he feared a coyote might attack him.

[PhiKapMom]

I have been drinking Coca Cola for years and have low blood pressure, low cholesterol, and very few doctor's visits except for routine checkups and an occasional flareup of allergies like is happening right now with all the rain we have had in OK. Once it dries out, my allergies will go away. When are the soft drink manufacturers going to weigh in on this proposed tax.

[goat granny]

I am waiting for them to put a 1 penny tax per square sheet of toilet paper....greed amongst politician's has no end to its depth...

[packrat35]

[CGTRWK]

Corn syrup and carbonic acid wasn’t always the default beverage.

Blame the prohibitionists. They won’t acknowledge the difference between beer and hard liquor, or the concept of drinking as separate from being drunk. And they wrote laws to match.

So you walk down the street with a beer, get a citation. Have a beer in your car, get arrested. Give a beer to your kid, get arrested. Sell a beer at your restaurant, pay an expensive tax for the license.

Make something enough of a pain in the ass and people will do something else. Like drink liquid diabetes instead, which is sold cheaply and everywhere because there’s no state interference.

[Tax-chick]

The author seems to think that he’s reasoning *at* someone to whom his thoughts are relevant. He’s not. The point of this proposed tax, as of so many others, is (a) collect revenue, and (b) restrict freedom ... with (b) more important than (a). Everything else is just smoke, if we’re still allowed to say “smoke.”

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

They seem to be confusing things. Diabetics and people with genetic predispositions to obesity might drink more soft drinks and eat more sweets but their health issues are not caused by the beverages. Coca-cola, Pepsi, and 7-Up are not causing hypothyroidism and diabetes. It's absurd to tax food products or beverages for genetic health problems.

These are neurotic liberals with obsessive compulsive disorder who get stuck on some hangup about fat people and begin counting up in their mind the health costs. So, what's next, if your father died of a heart attack and there is a risk of coronary disease do they want to tax you more? How about if your grandmother died of cancer? How about a Sushi tax? And since Vegetarians usually don't get enough protein or Vitamin D, how about a Vegan tax? This is madness. There would be no end to it. Marriage tax? Since divorce involves legals costs and lost work days. Football tax? Since there are more catastrophic injuries during football games and liberals like to discourage violent contact sports. How about people who regularly commute to work on highways? Don't forget the milk tax because PETA liberals want to discourage Dairy!

[Joe 6-pack]

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

~ C.S. Lewis