Soda Tax

[FattyXP]

Yeah I've made that point a couple times. You provided more facts than I did, though. The article linked by the OP just says "sweetened" beverages, which could even include diet versions.

What I'd like to see is data on how effective deterrence taxes are. I personally don't drink soda very often anymore, but I do occasionally. And I would just drop it from my diet completely if it got too expensive. But I know other people who wouldn't.

Basically... say a 20 oz bottle of soda is $1.50 and (hypothetically) you drink 2-3 of those per day. How much more would it have to cost before you'd remove one from your diet? Before you'd eliminate it from your diet? Essentially asking how high the tax would have to be for it to have any influence on consumption.

The link the OP provided specifically states in the headline "New York Governor David Paterson reiterated his position on Monday that a tax on sugary soft drinks is needed to curb obesity and recoup some of the billions of dollars a year spent on healthcare to treat people with diabetes and other diseases." Granted in the article itself it states Sweetened Soft Drinks and no mention of the word sugary.

That to me does not include diet varieties which don't contain "sugary" substances. Diet doesn't cause diabetes to my knowledge, but I know that the artificial sweeteners have been linked to causing cancer.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

The link the OP provided specifically states in the headline "New York Governor David Paterson reiterated his position on Monday that a tax on sugary soft drinks is needed to curb obesity and recoup some of the billions of dollars a year spent on healthcare to treat people with diabetes and other diseases." Granted in the article itself it states Sweetened Soft Drinks and no mention of the word sugary.

That to me does not include diet varieties which don't contain "sugary" substances. Diet doesn't cause diabetes to my knowledge, but I know that the artificial sweeteners have been linked to causing cancer.

Saccharine has been shown to cause cancer in rats. The cancer is caused through a specific mechanism that doesn't exist in humans.

Other than that, the 'link to cancer' is bullshit.

[ProfessorTjc]

No, not my precious.

[stabetha]

"No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase." hmmmm somethings doesn't add up.

[Minky]

You on the internet or what? This isn't news. It's like when people bitched about booze and cigs taxes. DUH.

You're allowed to do all the poisonous shit you want to yourself until all your friends and family partake, too, and half of them can't pay to fix the open sores or decaying limbs falling off their bodies. Tax payers pay that. No dice, mein freund. If you wanna be free to drink all the diabetes-inducing liquids, etc then be my guest -just do it where I don't have to pay for your bloated carcass when your circulatory system fails.

I doubt very highly that soda is the primary contributor to diabetes sufferer's condition.

[Deleted]

I'm for it. Obese people are bad for society.

[Foosha]

"No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase." hmmmm somethings doesn't add up.

No one believed that for a second....at least I hope so. The proposed tax is something like 15 cents. Will that deter the fatties and sugar addicts? How did that 2 dollar (i don't smoke so I dont really know the exact figure) increase to cigarettes work out...

Saccharine has been shown to cause cancer in rats. The cancer is caused through a specific mechanism that doesn't exist in humans.

Other than that, the 'link to cancer' is bullshit.

The only one that really has merit is aspartame, but even then its like getting popcorn lung, you have to drink an insane amount to get it, or work in aspartame fields (imagine if those existed). By then I think you have a higher chance of getting throat cancer...

[lokithor]

So are they going to tax Pepsi throwback or Sierra Mist which is made with cane sugar now?

[Auguine]

I enjoy one soda per day generaly, I tend to brush my teeth a half hour or so afterwords because the sugar/whatnot makes me nervous, and doing it right away is supposedly even worse for your teeth.

I would have no issue with a tax on soda. None at all.


I think a bigger issue is getting soda machines out of schools.

[Foosha]

So are they going to tax Pepsi throwback or Sierra Mist which is made with cane sugar now?

Honestly, you wouldn't think so, but hey it's the government so expect anything. IF they were smart, they would say "Hey, we want to make soda a little bit more so people cut back, why not reward the beverage makers/distributors for influxing the market with natural sugar soda from American grown sugar beet/cane farmers." Regular sweetened drinks with sugar are more expensive, so you don't need a tax and it also promotes new job growth.

[Fuzzzie]

Ha.. good luck with the "tax" part.

For example.. Ontario recently put a tax on plastic bags.. stores now charge 5c per plastic bag. Shockingly, they pocket all this money and pay about 10% to the actual legal tax. This is where my asshole personality takes over and I steal like 100 bags and throw them out in the parking lot.. lol.

Either way.. get ready to be scammed.

[Deleted]

In Denmark almost everything unhealthy has risen in price since we got that socialist goverment -.-

[nyc81991]

If you think about it, the whole point of drinking is to rehydrate your body. Soda not only makes you more thirsty (counter productive) but it is literally acid mixed with sugar / fat. If you leave a chicken in some coke for a certain amount of time all that will be left is bone. I honestly don't understand why anyone would want to drink something so horrible for you.

As far as the tax goes, They are getting carried away with taxes and limiting what people can put in their bodies. They should educate people about what makes it bad and dangerous, Not make it cost more.

[snowcrash512]

This makes zero sense, maybe in a bubble of happy fun land putting a tax on soda would help cut down on obesity, however we live in a world where people will pay 5 dollars a pack for cigarettes even tho they are pretty much guaranteed to cause death at some point. Its fairly safe to say a tax on soda would do exactly nothing other than gain a few million bucks for the government to funnel right back into corn growers pockets anyway so I guess this is only good for farmers that already receive better incentives than those that actually produce other healthy vegetables.

[Deleted]

snowcrash got a point.

[Sepein]

What's the problem? It's going to 1) Help with the deficit 2) offset the cost of obesity in the medical system 3) increase productivity at work due to less time miss from obesity related illness and 4) make soda less affordable to act as a deterrent to obesity. it's not like you're paying taxes comparable to cigarettes.

[Sorensen]

If you think about it, the whole point of drinking is to rehydrate your body. Soda not only makes you more thirsty (counter productive) but it is literally acid mixed with sugar / fat. If you leave a chicken in some coke for a certain amount of time all that will be left is bone. I honestly don't understand why anyone would want to drink something so horrible for you.

As far as the tax goes, They are getting carried away with taxes and limiting what people can put in their bodies. They should educate people about what makes it bad and dangerous, Not make it cost more.

Why do people do anything? Because they perceive to gain utility from it.

Taxing to increase the price might have an effect on the demand for the product, but it could be very little depending on the elasticity of demand of Sweetened drinks. I know personally, I only like to drink plain water if I have been exercising, but with meals and if I just want something to drink, I do prefer some sort of sweetened drink like juice, Kool-Aid, or soda.