The New York Daily News reports that President Obama thinks a sin tax on sodas and other sugary drinks might be a good idea:
“It’s an idea that we should be exploring,” the president said [in a Men's Health Magazine interview]. “There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else.”
Obama is floating the idea seven months after a storm of protest forced poll-challenged Gov. Paterson to drop his plans for an 18% tax on soda and other sugary drinks.
Despite that debacle, congressional lawmakers have considered soda taxes as one way to cover the cost of revamping the nation’s health care system, estimated to eat up much as $1 trillion over the next decade.
Perhaps the President should pay a sin tax on those Five Guys Burgers he seems to love so much.
Related Posts:
- New York Governor Paterson (Pavlov?) Proposes Sin Tax on Sweet Drinks
- A Fed Tax on Bad Foods
- Tax on Fat Folks: Regressivity is Good
- Sin Tax on Crack Cocaine Shot Down
3 responses so far ↓
1 Tax Piranha // Sep 18, 2009 at 2:50 am
[...] President Obama has said it is worth considering. The chief executive of Coca-Cola calls the idea outrageous, while skeptics point to political obstacles and question how much of an impact it would really have on consumers. [...]
2 Tax Mountain Dew, Make Marijuana Legal // Oct 20, 2009 at 11:08 am
[...] [...]
3 Hawaii Kills Soda Tax Because it Doesn’t go Far Enough // Feb 26, 2010 at 9:05 pm
[...] Obama Thinks Soda Tax Might be a Good Idea [...]
Leave a Comment