President Says 'Sin Tax' On Soda Is Food For Thought

[Ken]

Yep. Control the behavior of the masses through taxation. Tobacco, alcohol, gasoline ..... now it's soda .......and tomorrow? AMMO maybe?

President Says 'Sin Tax' On Soda Is Food For Thought

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...r_thought.html

[oly]

Sin tax? no wounder people are leaving Sin city.

[Pal334]

Starting to be a chilling time

[2dumb2kwit]

Where's my dang pitchfork?!?!

[2dumb2kwit]

Hey....I just thought about something. Wouldn't that mean that only 5% of us, drink sodas?

[LostOutrider]

Wait wait wait . . . so we already have government subsidized corn. That = stupidly cheap high fructose corn syrup which is all soft drinks are (plus some flavoring and carbonated water). So our tax money already goes toward driving down the price of the main ingredients of the soda, then they'll catch it again on the back end as they drive the price back up for the consumer.

Makes me glad I don't drink soda.



Of course, take a good fast look around you at the raw tonnage of folks sucking down hundreds of ounces of this blubber-inducing nectar, the cost their lifestyle choice is putting on our medical infrastructure (and the cost of my own insurance premiums as I pay for their emergency room care), and the layers of fat it piles on their children . . . maybe it isn't so bad to make it more expensive. Maybe it'll slow consumption a bit and our schools won't be mandated by law to do BMI's on children anymore?

I'd just as soon they stop the government subsidizing of corn, use that money elsewhere. Course farmers lobby better than the FFA (Fat Folks of America).

[2dumb2kwit]

Of course, take a good fast look around you at the raw tonnage of folks sucking down hundreds of ounces of this blubber-inducing nectar, the cost their lifestyle choice is putting on our medical infrastructure (and the cost of my own insurance premiums as I pay for their emergency room care), and the layers of fat it piles on their children . . . maybe it isn't so bad to make it more expensive. Maybe it'll slow consumption a bit and our schools won't be mandated by law to do BMI's on children anymore?

I'd just as soon they stop the government subsidizing of corn, use that money elsewhere. Course farmers lobby better than the FFA (Fat Folks of America).

Here's a crazy idea. Let everyone pay for their own friggin' health care!

[LostOutrider]

That's all fine and good, so long as we set up Crazy Willie's Budget Po' Folk Mortuary Services right next to every major hospital. It'll make it easier to shovel away the dead 'n dying who failed to pass the credit check when they came into the ER.

editing to ask . . . hold on now, I ain't lapsing into politics am I?

[mccaw69]

glad i dont drink much soda

[kx250kev]

Yep. Control the behavior of the masses through taxation. Tobacco, alcohol, gasoline ..... now it's soda .......and tomorrow? AMMO maybe?

President Says 'Sin Tax' On Soda Is Food For Thought

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...r_thought.html

Ken, you make very great points. The current administration doesn't seem to care about little things like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

[nell67]

That's all fine and good, so long as we set up Crazy Willie's Budget Po' Folk Mortuary Services right next to every major hospital. It'll make it easier to shovel away the dead 'n dying who failed to pass the credit check when they came into the ER.

editing to ask . . . hold on now, I ain't lapsing into politics am I?

Don't laugh,hospitals around here HAVE turned away patients who didn't have the money to pay for their care at local ER's at the time of service.

[LostOutrider]

Sadly, I believe it. But hey, who needs reform right? Food has nothing at all to do with maintaining a healthy population! Right? Let's continue to use tax money to make it profitable for farmers to overproduce corn which can in turn be used to saturate the nation with low-cost, high-fructose corn syrup-laden foods. This way, we can keep it so an 80 oz soda and a twinkie is cheaper than clean water, fresh fruit, and a turkey sandwich on wheat. Hey, it can really be poor folks' fault when they 'choose' to get simultaneously malnourished and morbidly obese. If their health suffers from it, well, maybe Crazy Willie will open up a Budget Miracle Cure Emporium next to his Po' Folk Mortuary.

It is stupid to tax sugary drinks on the consumer end. That much I agree with, even though I'd love to see a sharp spike and rise in the cost of h-f corn syrup - just on the agricultural end. I want healthier, more nutritious food to be cheaper and easier to obtain. Simply putting a tax on sugary drinks will only serve to increase the tax burden under the guise of promoting health. Look deeper at why they are so popular, so easy to obtain, and so heavily marketed, and so, so profitable to create.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMhpr0905723

[2dumb2kwit]

That's all fine and good, so long as we set up Crazy Willie's Budget Po' Folk Mortuary Services right next to every major hospital. It'll make it easier to shovel away the dead 'n dying who failed to pass the credit check when they came into the ER.

editing to ask . . . hold on now, I ain't lapsing into politics am I?

Sadly, I believe it. But hey, who needs reform right? Food has nothing at all to do with maintaining a healthy population! Right? Let's continue to use tax money to make it profitable for farmers to overproduce corn which can in turn be used to saturate the nation with low-cost, high-fructose corn syrup-laden foods. This way, we can keep it so an 80 oz soda and a twinkie is cheaper than clean water, fresh fruit, and a turkey sandwich on wheat. Hey, it can really be poor folks' fault when they 'choose' to get simultaneously malnourished and morbidly obese. If their health suffers from it, well, maybe Crazy Willie will open up a Budget Miracle Cure Emporium next to his Po' Folk Mortuary.

Obviously, some choose to drink the kool-aide, instead.

I'm not trying to be mean, but if fatso can't take care of himself, maybe it's time to cull the herd. It's time for people to take responsibility for themselves. We have programs to take care of those who CAN'T take care of themselves, but I gotta tell ya that a lot of us are dang tired of taking care of the ones who choose not to take care of themselves.

Come to think of it...I don't think much of people who try to give us this guilt trip, about taking care of others. The way I see it, I don't owe them sqwat....and IF I choose to help someone, that's my business. Don't take what I have, at gunpoint, and tell me that it's right.

[oly]

I gotta tell ya that a lot of us are dang tired of taking care of the ones who choose not to take care of themselves.

Come to think of it...I don't think much of people who try to give us this guilt trip, about taking care of others..

Been awhile ago but I was at a smorgasbord and this little (I should say young) boy asked me to get him a german chocolate cake, I told him that I'm not your waitress and if you wont a piece of cake that you need to get up off your butt and get it himself, then the whinny parents started the guilt trip with me about how I wont help out this young man, I looked the parents in the eye and said I AM HELPING HIM OUT.

I didnt stay very long, the lumps in the chair was distorted.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Sadly, I believe it. But hey, who needs reform right? Food has nothing at all to do with maintaining a healthy population! Right? Let's continue to use tax money to make it profitable for farmers to overproduce corn which can in turn be used to saturate the nation with low-cost, high-fructose corn syrup-laden foods. This way, we can keep it so an 80 oz soda and a twinkie is cheaper than clean water, fresh fruit, and a turkey sandwich on wheat. Hey, it can really be poor folks' fault when they 'choose' to get simultaneously malnourished and morbidly obese. If their health suffers from it, well, maybe Crazy Willie will open up a Budget Miracle Cure Emporium next to his Po' Folk Mortuary.

It is stupid to tax sugary drinks on the consumer end. That much I agree with, even though I'd love to see a sharp spike and rise in the cost of h-f corn syrup - just on the agricultural end. I want healthier, more nutritious food to be cheaper and easier to obtain. Simply putting a tax on sugary drinks will only serve to increase the tax burden under the guise of promoting health. Look deeper at why they are so popular, so easy to obtain, and so heavily marketed, and so, so profitable to create.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMhpr0905723

You know I see something very flawed with what you are saying. What about all the NUTRITIOUS foods that come from corn? Corn flakes and grits for breakfast(that help cleanse your intestinal tract and help prevent colon cancer) Corn meal - man I'm not even going to try and come up with all the nutritional foods that come from it,just because one that comes from it is "bad". But you still want to make it hard for the POOR farmer who raises your food? Most farmers are barely making it,AS IT IS!!! You might want to back up and rethink what you are saying.

You know I remember when water was free at stores not as much or more than a bottle of Soda, What about that "guilty" party,seeing that most bottled water is nothing more than tap water anyway.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

After my last post I really got to thinking about this. This subject has bothered me all day. Blaming farmers for growing the crop that the Government has driven the cost up on. You see it all started with Ethanol not corn syrup. Then they decided that Ethanol wasn't such a good idea after all. I say if you are going to tax something why not tax the plastic bottles that the drinks come in. they leach poison into whatever you are drinking anyway. They are overfilling our land fills. Heck 10 generations from now they can dig up the very bottle we drink from.Who knows maybe 100 generations from now.
But blaming corn syrup...hmmmph that ain't right. Do you realize how many farmers are barely hanging on? Not making it just breaking even? Why aren't you blaming the food processing plants or any of hundreds of other places that add or process into the very foods we eat all kinds of things that are harmful? No you want to target the very people who FEED YOU!!! That makes about as much sense as skinning your face 'cause you don't want to shave.
Oh yeah, I forgot everyone is PREPARED for the lack of food....until your stocks run out and you can't get resupplied 'cause there ain't no more farmers to produce the very food we eat.
That is like blaming your mother for your heart condition 'cause she fed you pork chops. You know what the risks are then don't take them. Pretty darn simple huh? I don't like paying the price of bottled water but guess what? I don't buy bottled water!! I already pay for my water, it comes from my Tap. I will buy containers to reuse over and over for my water supply. If I stop in the store it sure ain't to buy water, Yeah you guessed it I'm buying soda.I'll support the farmers not the thieves that are selling you water at a 300-400% markup on what they are paying for it. Bottom line buy what you want, but don't attack the people that are feeding you.

[Ole WV Coot]

Obviously, some choose to drink the kool-aide, instead.

I'm not trying to be mean, but if fatso can't take care of himself, maybe it's time to cull the herd. It's time for people to take responsibility for themselves. We have programs to take care of those who CAN'T take care of themselves, but I gotta tell ya that a lot of us are dang tired of taking care of the ones who choose not to take care of themselves.

Come to think of it...I don't think much of people who try to give us this guilt trip, about taking care of others. The way I see it, I don't owe them sqwat....and IF I choose to help someone, that's my business. Don't take what I have, at gunpoint, and tell me that it's right.

Now that's downright un-American nowdays. You're right but we ain't a czar, vote ain't worth spit, we caused these problems or our great grandads did. Therefore if we actually try to get people to work, well that's a major no no.
Daddy once told me the worst thing he ever did was teach me to work, he's right and I sure don't fit the new mold but ain't a dang thing we can do about it. Gotta be politically correct, don't want to be a racist now do we? So we gripe and give til it hurts, well it hurts me also.

[LostOutrider]

Reread, chief. I'm not blaming any farmers. I'm against subsidizing corn. My blame is on the government for artificially lowering prices. I want a sharp spike in corn prices - meaning it is more valuable. Think a little bit on that before your heart bleeds about the poor farmer starving because his crop is now worth more. Come on, Poc . . . you gotta do better than the Corn Flake defense. Research a bit more, even before ethanol. The HFCS explosion came in response to sugar prices. Attack the data if you want, and please post alternative reports or studies that contradict what I've said. I'm particularly interested in anything you can lead me to that promotes the benefits of a HFCS diet. I appreciate your other environmental concerns, especially about plastic bottles - but I'm lost on the relevance there.

What farmers are you supporting, exactly? I mean, do you have some American Gothic image in your mind of Maw and Paw Bootstrap struggling on the family farm while John Mellencamp moans away in the background?

2d2k - you'll have to try harder than regurgitating some battle-slogan you read on a poster at your last teaparty if you want to offend. I'm not sure what kool-aide you're referencing, but it seems you and I operate under different personal codes of moral responsibility. It is true, you don't owe anyone anything.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

What farmers are you supporting, exactly? I mean, do you have some American Gothic image in your mind of Maw and Paw Bootstrap struggling on the family farm while John Mellencamp moans away in the background?

While I am aware that there are large corporations in the farming industry. The only real farming around me is exactly what you allude to. People who Farm AND work a day job just to make ends meet. Probably 98% of the farmers around me are exactly that.... Maw and Paw working the farm and both working another job,and most of them don't even understand what Goth is.

[Rick]

Jeepers guys, what's next, dropping the subsidy on dairy? Elimination of the land bank? You guys are scaring me.