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Soda tax is all fizz
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Issue
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| Contributor | Jason |
| Last Edited | Jason Sep 14, 2009 07:16am |
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| Category | Opinion |
| Author | J. Justin Wilson |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Daily News |
| News Date | Monday, September 14, 2009 10:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The prospect of a trillion-dollar health care overhaul has Congress looking under couch cushions to find enough new revenue to pay the bill.
Despite opposition from two-thirds of Americans, President Obama has latched onto exploring one proposal to raise billions of dollars through "lifestyle taxes" on soft drinks. Not only would a tax on soda (or food, or alcohol) generate a new revenue stream, but supporters claim that it would also drive down medical costs by reducing rates of obesity.
That sounds good in theory but falls flat in practice. Evidence demonstrates that arbitrary taxes will not reduce health care costs. Rather, life-style taxes represent just another ill-considered "get rich quick" scheme by the federal government - and an intrusive one at that.
"For your own good" interventions are taking lots of forms these days: locking up other people's liquor cabinets, confiscating salt shakers, installing an IRS bean counter into every vending machine. |
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