NY seeks 'fat tax' on sodas

UK Telegraph...State Health Commissioner Richard Daines took up the issue Monday, speaking of a "golden opportunity" to create the tax.

"The dramatic underpricing of sugar-sweetened beverages, their widespread availability, and the ceaseless marketing of these products constitute a stumbling block to good health and are a clear and present danger to the future of our children," Daines said.

Now that the statists have squeezed as much regulation and taxes out of tobacco that they can, they are now turning their attention to individual behaviors that will provide even bigger sources of power and money. New York is not alone as this latest liberty sapping scheme is being considered by several other states, and at the federal level.

It would be too easy to just say " I told you so" to all the people who have enthusiastically supported the confiscation of the rights and money of smokers. As predicted, the same faulty premise that's been used to trample the rights of a minority is now being used against the majority:

"Health experts blame insufficient exercise, but also the habit, particularly among the poor, of washing down fast food with extra-sugary soda.

The crisis has fed ballooning public costs - $7.6 billion (£5 billion) in annual obesity-related medical bills in New York state alone - much of which are covered by taxpayers.

Tax proponents say that soft drinks should be treated like tobacco so that the government can effectively price people away from their bad habits."

Let's break this down: The taxpayers fund public health costs, therefore the taxpayers should pay more in order to bring down those costs. As surreal as that logic is, it is identical to the rationale that's been used against taxpaying smokers. But now the tyranny of the majority is being used by the government against the majority itself. How do you now argue against the same crazy rationale that you once supported?

New York's most notorious lifestyle fascist has weighed in:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, well known for his anti-smoking crusade in the city, also touted the idea in his weekly radio address Sunday.

"In these tough economic times, easy fixes to our problems are hard to come by," he said. "But the soda tax is a fix that just makes sense. It would save lives, it would cut rising health costs."

It wont do any of those things, just as the jihad against smoking has failed to produce similar results. But notice how Bloomberg views taking more money from the citizenry as an "easy fix" for the government's fiscal problems. In "tough economic times", the first thing to be fed is the insatiable state and that will somehow help the individuals that the food is being stolen from.