Soda Tax Sticker Shock Grips Seattle

[SL1200]

Taxes might not be the best solution to the problem, but soft drinks are probably the single biggest contributor to obesity. You can only eat so much junk food, but you can chug soda all day long, and that's exactly what lots of people do.

Why don't you mind your own business and stop trying to nanny other people?

[Unholyground]

Well just to give you an idea, where I live we pay 15 cents on every dollar unless it is a perishable item. Our alcohol is like a 45% tax, a 24 pack of beer is like 60$.

[araine]

Yeah it's excessive. Also I don't agree with simply taxing soda when there are a ton of foods that are equally bad for you, especially candy.

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As stated in the OP when you're paying an additional $10 for a case of soda then yes in my opinion the tax is excessive.

so you have 50 cans in a case?

[Ragedaug]

21 cent tax on a can of soda hardly strikes me as massive folks still pay 8 dollars for some soda at the ballgame 21 cent really is a microscopic cost increase that can be handled very easily

21¢ on an $8 stadium drink wouldn't seem like much. 21¢ on a 25¢ grocery store drink seems excessive. I can get 2 liters at my grocer for $1 (or 50¢ when on sale), which is less than the tax...er, I mean "fee" ($1.18) would be.

[Celista]

so you have 50 cans in a case?

Shrug idk, I don't buy soda. I have seen the 24 packs in the store so maybe people are buying two of those. Doesn't seem unusual, that's equivalent to about 1.5 cans a day for one person per month.

[Independent voter]

so you have 50 cans in a case?

I got the numbers off of http://drudgereport.com/

[Milchshake]

There's nothing liberals love more than to arbitrarily tax something. If only they could figure out a way to tax all the rapists on their side, that'd really have the money flowing in.

It's not all that arbitrary. Businesses profit greatly on selling sugary drinks. But the public has to absorb most of the health costs.
With all of that profits, businesses fund lobby groups making it difficult to tax them directly. So cities have to explore other ways to recoup those costs. A retail tax can help recoup those moines and it can also modify the behavior of those shoppers putting themselves at risk.

Also we could rescind the tax breaks and and other subsidies the sugar and corn industries receive. Because that would be less money the could put towards inundating media with advertisements and lobbying.

Right now we're fighting a health pandemic with both of our hands tied. Excuse thoughtful cities for trying something. They're doing what state and federal government wont do.

I'd imagine Chuck Grassley would have a fit if we ended corn subsidies.

[Themius]

They'll just switch to something just as sugary but not covered by the tax, like sugared coffee from Starbucks

Also, yeah diet cokes taste not as good yet they are still chugged

I prefer Diet Coke

[kasuke06]

It's not all that arbitrary. Businesses profit greatly on selling sugary drinks. But the public has to absorb most of the health costs.
With all of that profits, businesses fund lobby groups making it difficult to tax them directly. So cities have to explore other ways to recoup those costs. A retail tax can help recoup those moines and it can also modify the behavior of those shoppers putting themselves at risk.

Also we could rescind the tax breaks and and other subsidies the sugar and corn industries receive. Because that would be less money the could put towards inundating media with advertisements and lobbying.

Right now we're fighting a health pandemic with both of our hands tied. Excuse thoughtful cities for trying something. They're doing what state and federal government wont do.

I'd imagine Chuck Grassley would have a fit if we ended corn subsidies.

yeah, just hit the poor the one place you always know they can take it(the wallet, you know, since poor people always complain about having too much disposable income that's in dire need of taxation.) this won't affect the people who actually make the problems, so all you're doing is kicking people who are already in the gutter in the ribs. good job "hero".

[araine]

I got the numbers off of http://drudgereport.com/

Explains why it is wrong. i use common sense and math to get the correct answer

[kail]

1.75 cents per OUNCE on sugary drinks, that's $10.34 tax on a $15.00 Case of Coke.

As someone who is fine with the idea of a sugar tax, that is insane.

[Milchshake]

You could just admit you're a fascist that wants to impose your own morality on other people and that'd just be honest instead of trying to justify why it's OK for a government to impose arbitrary taxes on things they don't like. Prohibition doesn't work. How many times does it have to be tried for imbeciles to realize this?

Calm down Mr. Galt. Taxing is not prohibition, nor is it theft.

And imbeciles ... who's the fascist now?

[melodramocracy]

“The hope is consumption of the unhealthy product -- which causes heart disease, diabetes -- will go down, the sugary drinks to go down, and we fully expect that to be the case,” Krieger said.


The other purpose is tax dollars.


The $15 million Seattle expects to raise from the tax will go toward programs that will help people who are in need have better access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The money will also fund education programs. See the full breakdown provided at the end of the article.

Straight out of the "you really can't have it both ways, shithead" archives with this one.

[araine]

yeah, just hit the poor the one place you always know they can take it(the wallet, you know, since poor people always complain about having too much disposable income that's in dire need of taxation.) this won't affect the people who actually make the problems, so all you're doing is kicking people who are already in the gutter in the ribs. good job "hero".

If you are so concerned about the poor not being able to afford sodas perhaps we should increase the welfare check so they can cover it again

[Misuteri]

It’s nice that the Democratic mayor of Seattle could think of this tax between molesting underage boys.

[melodramocracy]

There's nothing liberals love more than to arbitrarily tax something.

I disagree. Taxation comes in second to telling people what they can / can't do with their property. See any self-driving car thread for examples.

[kasuke06]

If you are so concerned about the poor not being able to afford sodas perhaps we should increase the welfare check so they can cover it again

yup, get them stuck on that government teat as hard as you can, that way anyone further right than communism campaigns you just point out "they'll take your free money that you need for basics!" and get votes in a landslide since they can't live without your help because you make it impossible for them to get by without your help.

It's a devious scheme really, not unlike scrips in the company owned towns of old. secure your chattel, make sure they're too poor to run off. If anyone says anything untoward, gut their wages or sick their co-workers on them by threatening to dock everyone for what the one did.

[Mormolyce]

"Sin taxes" are an overreach of government power and if you keep letting them get away with it they'll find excuses to tax just about everything.

[Paetolus]

Explains why it is wrong. i use common sense and math to get the correct answer

I think, for whatever reason, they sort of doubled the prices. A 24 pack of Coke costs about 8 bucks near me, not 15. So $5.04 for an $8 pack of Coke, as opposed to a $10.34 tax on a $15.00 pack of coke. Still does make it seem like they pulled the numbers out of thin air, but the point stands that it is a ridiculous amount of money for a simple tax.

[Exeris]

They'll just switch to something just as sugary but not covered by the tax, like sugared coffee from Starbucks

Also, yeah diet cokes taste not as good yet they are still chugged

I find it weird that they attack specific products instead of adding a flat sugar tax and the same on any replacements to sugar that cause the same problems.

Or do something about the massive amounts of sugar in "normal" foods, our government have regulated this very slowly over time and very very few people even knew about this reduction.

We have gone from an average of 43kg of sugar a year in 2000 to 27kg in 2015, lifestyle choices and other factors like taxes also contributed to this.