I saw on the Discovery Channel the other day a school of frenzied Piranha violently devour a duck in three seconds.
I think it’s an apt metaphor for what is happening now as President Obama and his spendthrift cohorts in Congress, tax fangs out, hungrily circle everything that moves.
Of course when you’re running up deficits to an estimated $9 trillion you have no choice but to get creative.
The New York Times reports that the idea of sin-taxing sodas and sweet drinks is heating up once again:
The debate over a tax on sugary soft drinks — billed as a way to fight obesity and provide billions for health care reform — is starting to fizz over.
The tax would apply to soft drinks, energy drinks, sports beverages and many juices and ice teas, but not sugar-free diet drinks.
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.
But a team of prominent doctors, scientists and policy makers says it could be a powerful weapon in efforts to reduce obesity, in the same way that cigarette taxes have helped curb smoking.
But let’s not kid ourselves. This isn’t about about health. It’s about finding a politically palatable way to fund state budget shortfalls and Obama’s irresponsible spending sprees:
New York City health commissioner, Thomas Farley, and Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general, estimate that a tax of a penny an ounce on sugary beverages would raise $14.9 billion in its first year, which could be spent on health care initiatives. The tax would apply to soft drinks, energy drinks, sports beverages and many juices and iced teas — but not sugar-free diet drinks.
There is no limit to what a government can tax if it’s willing to go down the path of taxing things that are bad for us:
- Motorcycle tax
- Mountain climbing tax
- Parachuting tax
- Red meat tax
- Too much TV tax
- Unprotected sex tax
- Big Mac tax
- Watching Keith Olbermann tax
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
4 responses so far ↓
1 Taxing the Middle-Class Through the Backdoor // Sep 19, 2009 at 9:05 am
[...] [...]
2 Backdoor Taxes Part Deux // Sep 30, 2009 at 9:21 am
[...] [...]
3 Hawaii Kills Soda Tax Because it Doesn’t go Far Enough // Feb 25, 2010 at 6:27 pm
[...] Tax Piranha [...]
4 Save America, Outlaw Pizza // Mar 9, 2010 at 10:05 am
[...] Tax Piranha [...]
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