Meanwhile the expensive coffees enjoyed by many of the culturally elite lefties does not face a similar price bump.
Coincidence?
(Awaiting "omg but muh venti iced pumpkin spice latte iz much healthier than a diet coke. Stupid poors!")
Nah, those syrup drinks are unhealthful garbage and deserve to be taxed too. Drinking a latte isn't really "elite behavior," though. There's a Starbucks in almost every automobile slum in this country.
There are good reasons to focus on soda, like Crabcake mentions - it's easier to specify which drinks are taxed, it's the largest category of sugary drinks, it's what children are most likely to consume. But there are also bad reasons, and you're right, the fact that it's politically easier to target unhealthy behaviors that are more common among poor Americans is one of them.
Are not sugar fee sodas (you know the "diet" ones), equally taxed? Yeah, I know, those cause cancer and you will die a horrible death from them, but I digress. Anyway, this sugar thing seems like a stalking horse for deflection in my mind. But set me straight!
