Taking a page out of Michelle Obama’s tasteless organic playbook, Connecticut State Representative Roland Lemar (D) has jumped into the soft drink tax debate and introduced a bill that would place a $0.01 tax on every ounce of soda purchased in the state, allegedly to help combat obesity.
The bill proposes:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That chapter 219 of the general statutes be amended to impose an excise tax on distributors in the amount of $0.01 per ounce on sugar sweetened beverages sold in this state.
The bill also claims the tax is needed “to offset state costs associated with treating obesity and to fund active living opportunities in towns.”
Lemar’s proposed tax would amount to an additional $.68 per 2-liter bottle of soda. An average can of pop would cost soda companies an extra 12 cents.
But if you’re thinking ‘Gosh, glad I don’t live in Connecticut!’ – you could still be out of luck. Philadelphia and Denver are also embroiled in a debate over their own proposed soda taxes. California passed a similar tax in 2014.
Because taxing soda to combat obesity worked so well in Mexico.
We all know the big soda companies won’t shoulder such a hefty fine all by themselves. They’ll either stop selling soda in Connecticut altogether – which is fairly unlikely – or, that tax will predictably get passed right along to consumers.
Since we haven’t drunk the government’s overtaxed Kool-Aid, we’ll assume the latter.
So let’s just get this straight: Lemar wants to impose a tax on sodas, including those purchased by perfectly healthy people who just happen to like Dr. Pepper, so the state can fund government-run programs for overweight people who are perfectly capable of – and responsible for – making their own health decisions.
For the sake of argument, we’ll ignore, for a moment, the state’s irrational and unending need to create a new program to fix humanity’s every self-imposed bump and boo-boo. We’ll also sidestep the fact that the government never actually uses the revenue they get from forcefully taking money from its citizens to support the well-meaning program they swear they’ll use it for. (Lottery tickets? Social Security?)
We’ll just hone on this: They want to force everyone to pay so the state can "help" overweight folks be more active.
Now, I’m as gung-ho about healthy living as the next guy who’d like to see their grandkids graduate high school. But since when is it the government’s job to tax us for making our own dietary decisions, or to step in when it decides we didn’t choose correctly? I’m really sorry if a few people decide it’s worth risking diabetes just to pound a few Mountain Dews before lunch. I’m also sorry if you think eating pizza every day is tempting enough to roll the dice on heart disease, just like I’m sorry if you thought underwater basket weaving was an acceptable college major and now you can’t find a job that will pay you in more than not-so-magic beans.
But the last time I checked, that’s a big load of not my – or the government’s – problem.
Personal responsibility, people.
God help Paula Deen if they ever decide to tax butter.