As I was driving last week the radio blared 'Senate to look into a 3 cent tax hike on all sugary drinks, Gatorade, and energy drinks to help curb obesity'. My first thought was; .03 x a whole lot of soda = a whole lot of money. I am so tired of the government, whether it is national or state, trying to save us by way of taxation.
As soon as I got home I looked up the proposed tax. The tax hike on the drinks will raise about 1.5 billion annually and lower consumption around 1%. WOW! One whole percent! I do not see where this tax is going to make a difference since it is not the only cause of obesity. I do, however, appreciate the acknowledgement that the money collected from the tax will go towards Obama's health care package and not in the guise of some program to wean the public off the sugary beverages.
The one thing that irritates me is when the states follow suit, jump on the tax bandwagon, and add a few more cents. The states will then defend the tax stating how the new tax will curb use, decrease the medical burden on the state and the taxpayers, and fund programs for lowering the obesity rate. Bologna. Most of the money collected, or all of it, will go for budget woes. This is exactly what happened with the added tax on tobacco, where 15 states that collect added tax, do not use the added tax for any tobacco program. I bet there are plenty of other states that use only a marginal amount of the money for the intended use.
Even though most of the excess taxes on things like tobacco, alcohol, and now sugary drinks affect only the people that use them, the ones who do not still need to hold their breath because something they may love to drink, eat, or enjoy could be next.
Can I See Your Papers Mr. Hernandes
14 years ago
Raising taxes by such a small margin on sugary drinks is not going to curb obesity in the nation. It may just make a tiny bit of a difference to those who are financially disadvantaged. The saying "Mind over Matter" would better serve the reasoning behind taxing sugary drinks as well as junk food. Sometimes people just hate the thought of giving more money to the Government, as a result this may force them to fore-go luxuries in place of necessities.
ReplyDeleteMy only argument with the writer is that we already know what did not happen with the cigarette taxes in the past, but my optimism tells me something better is going to happen this time. The government should leave each state to decide how they wish to collect the taxes, as well as how they wish to use the tax surchage. There should be programs already lined up for this type of tax. Seeing results would also help convince organizations like the American Beverage Association who say that "a lot of people do not want taxes on their sodas".
Even though we know that this taxation will not curb obesity, but since it may just affect a small number of people, it is a great fund raising idea. Whilst we are at it, we might as well make it more meaningful by making the taxation steeper.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying! It is crazy to think that out of all of the money they will be collecting, only 1% of consumption will be affected. That to me, shows how greedy the government is. They have to know that the tiny percentage will not actually do anything to help with obeisity. It sounds to me that they are digging for any possible reasons to tax the public. They are hungry for money. And I also agree that they aren't truly going to use all of that money on what they have claimed it will go for. They can put any false ideas out there to get the taxations passed and once they have our money, they will use a fraction for the proposed claim, to keep their butts safe, and the rest will go for whatever they decide.
ReplyDelete