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A new tax on sugary drinks designed to generate revenue for cash-strapped Cook County .......
illinoispolicy.org ^ | 06/28/17 | Robert Brutvan

Posted on 07/31/2017 5:10:57 AM PDT by sleeper-has-awakened

Full Title: A new tax on sugary drinks designed to generate revenue for cash-strapped Cook County will be the third burdensome tax applied to soda prices in Chicago, making a $4 12-pack of soda in the city cost $5.97.

Beginning July 1, residents of Cook County may notice their grocery bills growing as a penny-per-ounce tax on artificially sweetened beverages takes effect.

The new tax will be added on top of Chicago’s highest in the nation sales tax of 10.25 percent and the city’s 3 percent tax on non-alcoholic beverages. With the new sugary beverage tax, soda in Chicago will be some of the most expensive in the nation as a $4 12-pack of soda will cost $5.97, an effective tax rate of nearly 50 percent.

The new tax on sugary beverages will also affect fountain drinks, energy drinks, tea, coffee, diet soda and juices that aren’t 100 percent fruit of vegetable juice.

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association filed a lawsuit against Cook County June 27 in an effort to stop the penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages. Retailers filed to halt the tax, claiming that the tax is unconstitutionally vague and not uniform in what it taxes. A statement released from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association claims that the Sweetened Beverage Tax creates illegal and unsubstantial classifications of beverages, such as differentiating a bottled Frappuccino sold in a convenience store, which would be taxable, from a Frappuccino prepared in a coffee shop, which would not be subject to the tax.

(Excerpt) Read more at illinoispolicy.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: bluezones; chicago; colawars; food; illinois; soda; sugar; tax; taxandspend; taxes
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To: upchuck

it does include diet.


21 posted on 07/31/2017 5:44:36 AM PDT by ronniesgal (still winning (and a self satisfied Pr!ck, according to WMarshal))
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To: txrefugee

It’s NOT the government’s responsibility.


22 posted on 07/31/2017 5:45:10 AM PDT by Jacob Kell (A New Day has Dawned, let's Make America Great Again!)
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To: txrefugee

Are you kidding? Where does it end with your logic?

I am a Type 2 diabetic. Here are “sugary” things I need to avoid as carbohydrates are broken down into sugars:

Bread
Rolls
Pizza
Pasta
Pretzels
Fruits of all kinds
Milk
Ice Cream
Beer

The list is long. Do we assign special taxes on everything and triple the cost of groceries?


23 posted on 07/31/2017 5:47:58 AM PDT by LeonardFMason (426)
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

They will find something else to tax. They are never satisfied. The end goal is complete government control over all money. Long way to go, but they are moving toward it.


24 posted on 07/31/2017 5:50:43 AM PDT by I want the USA back (If free speech is taken away, dumb and silent we are led, like sheep to the slaughter: G Washington)
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To: Sacajaweau
What we didn't do....was sit around on our butts all day.

You are exactly correct. I'm 57 and we ate all of what you did, and my generation saw the dawn of the highly processed foods, like Twinkies and McDonald's. However, for the most part while we were young we were also fairly fit. When we were kids we ran around the neighborhood all day. When we were young adults, we worked physically demanding jobs.

Now the kids play video games and when they get older, they let the Mexicans do the hard physical work.

25 posted on 07/31/2017 5:52:05 AM PDT by henkster (Ask your favorite liberal to take the "Snowflake Challenge.")
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

It is a good thing only the rich buy this stuff.


26 posted on 07/31/2017 5:53:21 AM PDT by pas
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To: Sacajaweau

I walked to school in first grade and got those icicle pops every day on the way. Old gas station with a floor freezer. 2 for 5c.

Took me 20 minutes to get to school. I guess my parents would get locked-up in this day.

Your fat and corrupt Chicago. Your pensions are bankrupt. Just admit it and start over. Socialist bastards.


27 posted on 07/31/2017 5:54:42 AM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

Al Capone has a new commodity to smuggle and idiot democrats have already written checks for the next ten years of expected revenues which will never arrive.


28 posted on 07/31/2017 5:58:21 AM PDT by blackdog
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

Next will be the “high fructose sweetener settlement” just like the tobacco settlement in 1996/7.


29 posted on 07/31/2017 6:00:15 AM PDT by blackdog
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To: Blennos

the difference between sugary drinks and fruit juice is nutrition not sugar. That is why the juice glass is so small.

If you want a sugar rush eat a spoonful of frozen apple juice. Man, is that good!


30 posted on 07/31/2017 6:06:21 AM PDT by joshua c (To disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

There are many ways to see this.

Its a way to generate revenue for big government and in the case of billionaire Michael Bloomberg from Wall Street and his “Bloomberg Business Newtork” its a way to tax little people instead of Wall Street business and or billionaires.


31 posted on 07/31/2017 6:06:39 AM PDT by Spiridon
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To: ClearCase_guy

[I just love how coffee is considered a “sugary drink”.]

Have you seen the obscene amounts of sugar people pour into their cups??


32 posted on 07/31/2017 6:07:34 AM PDT by ObozoMustGo2012 ("Be quiet... you are #fakenews!")
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To: txrefugee

[Soft drinks are not a dietary necessity. In fact, they are bad for your health, so that may be a good thing.]

That’s not your decision to make for other people.


33 posted on 07/31/2017 6:10:28 AM PDT by ObozoMustGo2012 ("Be quiet... you are #fakenews!")
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To: Sacajaweau

[Soft drinks bad for your health? Not any worse than OJ.]

The problem with soft drinks today is not SUGAR. It’s this High Fructose Corn Syrup crap. It’s absolutely terrible for your health!! And the diet drinks are even worse.
Aspertame has been linked to surpressing insulin, and is a bigger risk of creating diabetes than sugar-added beverages.

Like everything in life, things need to be taken into moderation.


34 posted on 07/31/2017 6:13:11 AM PDT by ObozoMustGo2012 ("Be quiet... you are #fakenews!")
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

i live in a county west of Cook. I’m guessing all these counties will be looking at this.

Next, Cook will tax non-sugar drinks because they have no sugar in them to be taxed.


35 posted on 07/31/2017 6:18:08 AM PDT by stylin19a
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To: puppypusher
The way to get around these burdensome taxes is to not buy the product being taxed.

That's just a way of living one's life according to the wishes of the people passing such legislation - aside from the revenue, they want people to stop drinking soda because they don't think it's good for us.

If we'd rather make our own decisions about our health and what we choose to consume instead of having some liberal busy-bodies do it for us, the way to get around these burdensome taxes is to buy the soda from elsewhere and have it delivered.
36 posted on 07/31/2017 6:18:09 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: ObozoMustGo2012

When people’s healthcare is paid by my premiums and my taxes, it becomes my problem.

That is the reasoning, and it has some merit.


37 posted on 07/31/2017 6:32:44 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

This will fail big time. Look at what happened in PA and also Seattle.


38 posted on 07/31/2017 6:33:02 AM PDT by SkyDancer (You know they invented wheelbarrows to teach FAA inspectors to walk on their hind legs.)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Well, they HAD to use ‘sugary drinks’, as they had to catch the SODA *and* POP drinkers /s


39 posted on 07/31/2017 6:37:36 AM PDT by i_robot73 ("A man chooses. A slave obeys." - Andrew Ryan)
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To: sleeper-has-awakened

they should tax bullets. problem solved.


40 posted on 07/31/2017 6:39:16 AM PDT by JohnBrowdie
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