Last year New York Governor David Patterson proposed a new 18% tax on sweet drinks. He had to drop the proposal because it was unpopular with both the beverage industry and consumers.
Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Congress is exploring a national surtax on sugary drinks:
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.
Senior staff members for some Democratic senators at the center of the effort to craft health-care legislation are weighing the idea behind closed doors, Senate aides said.
Observation: It would appear that many of the same individuals who claim that tax increases on the rich do not have a constrictive effect on spending are metaphysically convinced that a surtax on bad foods will curtail consumption.
They can’t have it both ways . . . or can they?
6 responses so far ↓
1 Bad Food Tax Redux // May 16, 2009 at 8:57 am
[...] wrote about this nonsense here and here. Bookmark & [...]
2 Sin Taxes are a Hate Crime, Congressman Says // Jun 17, 2009 at 8:31 am
[...] Now, as anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows, I am no fan of sin taxes. [...]
3 Tax on Fat Folks // Jul 24, 2009 at 6:21 am
[...] [...]
4 Backdoor Taxes: Obama to Consider Consumption Tax? // Oct 3, 2009 at 5:24 pm
[...] [...]
5 Tummy Tuck Tax Truths // Dec 8, 2009 at 12:09 am
[...] [...]
6 Save America, Outlaw Pizza // Mar 9, 2010 at 9:50 am
[...] A Fed Tax on Bad Foods? [...]
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