How about this. . . Tax the Companies that make it. If you are contributing to the downfall of society for a fast buck why not make you pay for it as well Rocket River We do it to drug dealers
I feel that they are taxing to "ban smoking" in a sense, which is taking away a right that has been in America for 100's of years. It does not alter your thinking like narcotics do, and you cannot overdose or anything on cigarettes in one day or hour. (unless if its some idiot who smokes 10 cigarettes at a time or something...then maybe, but it would have to be REALLY EXTREME) I'm not saying smoking is a great habit or anything, but if they take away smoking, what are they going to tax next, going to the movies?? tax fast food? tax corn oil? tax red meat? After awhile, its going to get bad if we allow them to tax anything that they can say is harmful to us. I know its extreme, but I don't like the reasoning for it...thats my main issue with cigarette taxes. Just a personal opinion.
Then the companies themselves would just raise prices to compensate for the taxes, and the die-hard smokers will continue to buy them. Plus, these companies can afford the best lawyers and what not and will take cases to the supreme court if they have to...they are multi-billion$ companies. They should just switch to the electronic cigarettes if they really wanna stop killing people slowly (heard these electronic ones don't contain actual tobacco or tar...just flavor and water vapor) But they go for 150 bucks right now...just make these cheaper, and smoking may be eliminated...taxing them is just gonna make more citizens broke.
You have just identified a huge part of the problem. Sodas were never good for you, but they became much more likely to cause obesity when they replaced cane sugar with high fructose corn syrup. That stuff is so highly processed that your body cannot break it down further. Therefore, it sticks with you.
get used to more necessary printing and borrowing money we are going to get all three, debt, debt and taxes, we have no choice- we cannot possibly tax enough to keep up with our borrowing and spending. Unless we spend less than we tax we borrow. The deficit is est. around 2 trillion, the interest on the current debt is around 800 billion and we are still looking for ways to spend more. I think our tax revenues would have to increase more than 210% over last year just to stay even. That's alot of soda pop.
You (and several others) seem to be missing the point made in the article (and posted here earlier) that soda is unique, in that it has absolutely no positives at all and has quite a few negatives. It contributes greatly to obesity and dental problems while providing no nutritional value.
This. So many people seem to have missed it. Sure, McDonald's BigMac is unhealthy, but it does provide you some nutriotional value (protein, etc.). Soda really provides you nothing of worth except water. However, it does have things that increase obesity, damage your teeth, and can cause stomach problems in some people (myself). What else is nutritionally useless and causes harm? Alcohol? Cigarettes?
very unamerican. I'm going to start a march to washington, and call it the Fanta party march. I'm addicted to diet coke. =/
I agree somewhat, but thats crazy reasoning. I have a right to earn money, own property, and purchase items of value. I'm taxed on all three. If the government doesn't have a right to tax then a government will cease to exist. Singling out individual industries is a concern, but sin taxes have been around for a long time and they aren't going away. The government is going to raise taxes on you somehow. I'd rather they tax soda then tax my paycheck.
I think this is a bad idea. Meat would be next. How about deserts? I would almost rather see a general increase in tax rates than these sort of "sin" taxes. In California we have a steep cigarette tax. The revenues were supposed to go to anti-tobacco campaigns. There are public preschools that are basically funded by smokers. Now that revenues from this are going down, politicians want to increase taxes to make up the gap. The whole premise as sold to the electorate was to punish smokers - not to raise revenue. You think the politicians here would cheer if everyone stopped buying gasoline? No. They would be sad because they would have to find ways to make up the revenue loss.
Taxing soda is a great idea. It should've been done long ago. I'm constantly amazed by the number of people I meet who drink 5+ cans of soda every single day, and never touch stuff like, you know... water or orange juice (*gasp*). These people don't do themselves any favors health-wise, and they know that. This would help offset the health care costs created by soda. Not like I wouldn't be affected... I drink soda too, and I certainly like my jack 'n' coke, but I'm completely fine with paying more for something I know isn't good for me.
If we're going to tax stuff, might as well tax the crap out of the bad/unhealthy things and subsidize the healthy/good stuff. For FAR too long we've been doing the exact opposite in this country and it is really hurting us. If it weren't for the fact that we are already so intertwined as a society in terms of what is good for you is good for me, I wouldn't care. But since keeping Joe/Bob/Jim from drinking/eating himself into an early grave helps me out, then sure, I'm all for taxing the crap out of stuff like this.
EXACTLY! The real problem here is why it costs a ton more to eat healthy. On a small scale, just looking at fast food places, when double burgers are 99 cents and salads are 5.49, something seems out of whack. Corn is subsidized to the point that it's cheaper for everything to be super processed. And corn GMOs literally go into everything. It's what sets our nation apart.
I think its a very good idea. For something that's so bad for you, soda is too cheap and accessible to kids.
This is not entirely true. Die-hard smokers will continue to buy them, but many others will quit. NYC smoking taxes have been credited with raising the after life expectancy of a New Yorker by 15 months over the past few years. That's incredible. Thing of the money is saves in health care costs alone...not to mention the tragic loss of life.
