Comments on: Taxing The Poor And Middle Class

By: Samantha Thomas

Samantha Thomas — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:20:23 +0000

i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. ‘.;

By: marco

marco — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:24:36 +0000

Hello

you should get your blog listed at http://www.bloggingcritic.com , a directory of cool blogs!

Marco

By: smg45acp

smg45acp — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:03:57 +0000

Let’s look at this logically.
If in fact the Dummyrats are really doing this to get people to stop drinking soft drinks and if people then stop drinking soft drinks, then they will get very little tax revenue from this tax.
And if they are in the long run not going to get much tax revenue from we must ask, “ Why bother doing it?”
So logically it has to be stated that this is not about helping people, because of course people are going to continue drinking what they want to drink. Taxes have not stopped smoking or drinking hard liquor.
This is all about screwing the public for yet another dime.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:06:32 +0000

I concur with Steve; this isn’t about taxes, but about increasing campaign donations. On the other hand, if the tax does pass, the congressmen won’t be too upset (especially since it will open the door to tax fat, protein and everything else junk science points to as potentially bad for you–expect a federal water tax and not just on bottled water.)

By: Steve Tessier

Steve Tessier — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:24:48 +0000

I don’t think the political proponents of the soft drink tax really intend it to pass. I see it as a shake down of Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, etc. – all very deep pockets. Not to mention the politically powerful corn syrup industry – since drinks are sweetened with corn syrup not sugar. A targeted product sales tax will jeopardize their businesses and they will reasonably react with a big enough increase in their lobbying to kill it. The lobbying will fill the campaign coffers of the politicians who are against it or who are undecided. Once the politicians are done with sweetened soft drinks, I expect they will shake down some other industry.

By: O Bloody Hell

O Bloody Hell — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:45:00 +0000

There’s an obvious test to this — does it tax all sodas, or only the ones containing sugar?

If it taxes anything with aspartame in it, it’s not aiming even vaguely at obesity issues.

I’ve switched to a mixed diet/sugared consumption (at home, I split it about 60% diet, 40% sugared. When out, I ask the server to do it 50-50), both as a dieting measure and for reduced diabeties concerns (I’m not, but I’m “pre-diabetic”, supposedly). I continue because diet drinks alone still taste like crap.

But in short, a tax wasn’t needed to lower my consumption. Simple health concerns were adequate.

That’s not to imply that, in any way, I disagree with the fact that it’s none of the government’s damned business to force me to do as it wills on an issue such as diet.

Just remember all this when we’re re-writing the Con after the Second Revolution… Many more strictures on what the business of government is.