Obama Open to 'Sin Tax' on Soda

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Well you better be if you want to tax my soda for "health" benefits. You better darn be ready to debate people on the matters of health care if you're gonna be tellin us how to live because you don't wanna pay for our health care don't ya think?

EDIT: And I don't mean just you. I just mean anybody that wants to get into these, it's better for your health if we tax it debates. It's really just another aspect of the health care debate or it's propaganda. Either they're doing it for our health or they aren't.

[edit on 10-9-2009 by tinfoilman]

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


Best to use nutrasweet or diet soda on ants.

This all gives new meaning to the Beatles song "Taxman".

[edit on 10-9-2009 by seabisquit]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


you don't want to pay for someone elses healthcare?

....you do realize that this new healthcare plan will be funded by the government...who's funded by our taxes....right?
so how you think you're not going to be paying for other peoples healthcare through your taxes is kind of a conundrum to me...

Originally posted by marg6043
Well taking into consideration that soda like cigarettes are life style choices that can affect health I have not problem with a sin tax.

I don't drink sodas and neither smoke cigarettes, I am all for it.

Well if that is the fact, that such is a life style choices that can affect health, why not hit all of the big things that can affect health? Why just soda (sugar) and cigarettes? I would propose that we also increase taxes on the following items as they too are just as addictive and bad for health as well:
1) Alcohole. Still have a number of drunk drivers out there and still getting busted for driving drunk, causing accidents, as well as, alcoholism, and liver problems. We need to go dry.
2) Coffee and energy drinks: Those are highly addictive.
3) Cell phones: They distract from the world and thus all cell phones need a higher tax as they can be used for legal and illegale activities.
4) Fast food, cheese, and snacks: High sugar and cholestoral, as well as high sodium is not good for the heart.

Question is when do you say enough is enough? Where is the line in the sand that you say do not cross as it is a personal choice. Ultimately that is what needs to be decided, personal choice, not the government coming in and taxing the things that are bad for you, rather taking the bull by the horns and stating this is a personal choice as to what to consume or put into your body.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


Don't forget skateboards, ski's and bicycles.

I don't want to say things that may seem argumentative with President Obama haters. But, what a crock of horse balls Ive just read through on this thread.

Whiners, complainers and haters of your President--Give the guy a chance as he may just be lookin out for AMericans interest? Gosh !!

Decoy

Originally posted by paranoiaFTW
Calm down its a tax on soda. What are you going to bring your ARs to Obama speeches and start screaming "I want my 10 cents back!!! You are stealing from us! That 10 cents could have bought my kids 1/2 a stick of gum!!"?

so you also agree with red light camera's

most of us know it's all about the rewvenue stream with them,,,,,yet municipalaties still want them for there supposed safety benefit

yet every study sdays they actually increase accidents and do more harm than good





also---let's not forget,,, half the reason soda is so bad is high fructose corn syrup,,,,,, and it's used because it's cheaper than sugar,,,,,,why is that,,,, because of subsidies for a few sugar farmers in the south which we each pay an additional/extra $15 dollars a year for sugar,,,,,

free market???? freedom of choice???? in america,,, no

Taxing soda could be a good thing.
I'm sure you could make a strong case either way...
But in the end, it may decrease the amount of poison people put in their bodies...
And that's good for everyone, right?
Except maybe hospitals...

Sin tax on soda ?

Beautiful. Bring it on, LOL


In the UK right now, politicians are suggesting increased costs for travel, to 'help the environment'. Again ... do it ! LOL

I love it !

Politicians are now attacking their own backers.

Let's we the people sit back and enjoy !

For sure, Pepsi and Coke are going to love Obama and his greedy masters. The airlines too.

Let them fight like dogs over a bone. It will weaken the hold ALL of them have over the population .. as well as stripping those obscenely overflowing coffers

Hope they impose gargantuan tax on cigarettes, alcohol, entertainment .. the lot !

They'll destroy themselves and we'll be a lot better off, physically, spiritually and mentally and cash-wise .. because we'd give up all those habits they've been using to destroy us

Let them have at each other ! If they keep it up long enough, there might be an opening for some decent human beings in politics. And wouldn't that be a change

reply to post by Decoy


Do you mean special interests? He sure isn't looking out for American interests.

Go ahead and tax soda, it's fine with me. It's loaded with sugar and is pretty damn bad for you.

Sure is a lot of whining ragers on here. What is wrong with taxing something that is BAD for you? Maybe it will make people think twice before buying it next time.

I'm all for it, as well as the tax on cigarettes.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by griftin]

Originally posted by griftin
Go ahead and tax soda, it's fine with me. It's loaded with sugar and is pretty damn bad for you.

Sure is a lot of whining ragers on here. What is wrong with taxing something that is BAD for you? Maybe it will make people think twice before buying it next time.

I'm all for it, as well as the tax on cigarettes.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by griftin]

Because we're supposed to be free to make whatever choices we want.
If it's bad for you, why are they allowed to sell it in the first place?

Originally posted by Critical_Mass

Originally posted by griftin
Go ahead and tax soda, it's fine with me. It's loaded with sugar and is pretty damn bad for you.

Sure is a lot of whining ragers on here. What is wrong with taxing something that is BAD for you? Maybe it will make people think twice before buying it next time.

I'm all for it, as well as the tax on cigarettes.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by griftin]

Because we're supposed to be free to make whatever choices we want.
If it's bad for you, why are they allowed to sell it in the first place?

You still can make whatever choices you want, it just might cost a bit more. Boo hoo cry me a river.

There are plenty of things that are bad for you that are sold anyway, like cigarettes, don't ask me why, it's just how it is.

I vote yes to a soda tax

Soda makes ya fat, it also dehydrates the body leading to possible kidney problems

while we are at it, i'd go for upping the tax on tobacco by 1000%

Originally posted by griftin
Go ahead and tax soda, it's fine with me. It's loaded with sugar and is pretty damn bad for you.

Sure is a lot of whining ragers on here. What is wrong with taxing something that is BAD for you? Maybe it will make people think twice before buying it next time.

I'm all for it, as well as the tax on cigarettes.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by griftin]

Yeah and drinking too much water is also bad for you so should they regulate water consumption too? Posts like this amuse me in a way that people want the government to tax the hell out of us for a seemingly good deed. Trust me, they don't care if you are ruining your health, it's all about more control, more money to fork out from the citizens and a complete waste of time discussing such an idea when there are more important things to worry about. Oh wait, they created these problems, so why worry right? I drink pop frequently and I'm in great shape.

I like to drink coke and have for most of my life and do I have health problems? No, I rarely get sick. Pop is only bad for you if you drink a case of it a day, then yes it is bad for you, but just like with everything else, moderation is the key. Want to know why people are whining? Simple, more taxation. That is the problem, you think this is going to help the economy? Please, so much money in taxes is robbed of us as it is that it makes the average person have a hard time making a living. If they do incorperate a "sin tax" where does it stop from there? I point out sin tax, not soda tax here.

Think about it, what is going to stop them from deciding what is considered "sinful"? Meat is considered bad, are you for a taxation of that? Tofu is even considered bad for you, are you for the taxation of that? Most things in this world are good and bad for you. Also, they talk of a small tax, but once it is put into place, the ball is in there court. What may start as a 5 cent tax could easily turn into a $1 tax and so on. When people are in support of unnecessary taxes, makes me wonder if we were better off not rebelling against British rule as colonies.

Originally posted by tinfoilman
You better darn be ready to debate people on the matters of health care if you're gonna be tellin us how to live because you don't wanna pay for our health care don't ya think?

Once again, I'm not telling anyone how to live. Live however you want. Just don't ask me to pay for it.

Either they're doing it for our health or they aren't.

And you'll have to check with THEM. Not me. I'm not a lawmaker or a mind reader. But I support people taking responsibility for themselves. It's one of the conservative tenets to which I subscribe.

There is nothing wrong with taxing soda. But if you do, make sure you take all that extra tax (And I do mean all of it, no lost money in bureaucracy) and make cheap health snacks available to all children in schools.

reply to post by threekings


That's the problem with anything like this though isn't it?

By the time you've paid someone to collect the money, paid a think tank to come up with ways to spend the money, paid some IT contractors to build systems to handle the money, paid all their managers... and employed a few more people in some new government department...

Oh, that only leaves 1c per can - we'd best put it up to 10c then!

One thing we've all learned by now is that governments are the least trustworthy organisations in existence when it comes to spending our money.

reply to post by mattpryor


Your right, You can't give any money to them because they will just find new ways to spend it. They will create jobs for disbursing the money and spend everything in doing so. Tobacco, Alcohol, Pop, Ice Cream (They talked about that in Canada) But it only works in theory.

The bottom line is that people should stop drinking pop. Not because it's bad for you, or bad for some people. (There are certain people that are genetically predisposed to countering the effects)

The reason we should give up pop is because it is force fed to us through relentless marketing and lack of free market trade in the beverage industry.

We should also give it up because of the associated waste in the production of it. To be honest, it should be more of a novelty for most people, like a fine wine, instead of being a staple of their diet. Maybe ridiculously high prices on pop wouldn't be that bad.

For every bottle of pop made it takes 2-3 bottles of waste water. And when you acknowledge that many people in this world don't even have clean drinking water it is an incredibly selfish need of ours to having soda vending machines everywhere we go.

In the end,everything will be taxed,and is already!.

You can't even collect rainwater,because a government agency is responsible for preserving the watershed,go ahead,do it and see if they don't tell you that you can't.

If you want to tax something that will do someone some good,start with more tax on cars and driving,all of the substances a car emits are toxic/carcinogenic.

Where do you think tire rubber dust goes?,it ain't exactly biodegradable...



OOPS!,I just suggested a tax on the very thing that makes most people lazy and fat.

You know it's true,so just be quiet.

And yes,I do ride a bicycle,heeheehee.

Cars stink.