Bloomberg continues heroic crusade to piss off as many libertarians as possible

[Frodo]

Honestly, if people want to be fat by consuming obnoxious amounts of sugar, then just let them. It's their problem.

It would be, if the rest of us didn't have to pay for their diabetes treatments through higher premiums. 

[GLPman]

Honestly, if people want to be fat by consuming obnoxious amounts of sugar, then just let them. It's their problem.

It would be, if the rest of us didn't have to pay for their diabetes treatments through higher premiums. 

Oh I'm aware, haha. Why stop at soft-drinks, though? If Bloomberg is really out to rid the city of excessively unhealthy products, why not go after those triple baconaters? Obesity is no doubt a huge issue across the nation, but this is absurd.

[Beet]

Honestly, if people want to be fat by consuming obnoxious amounts of sugar, then just let them. It's their problem.

It would be, if the rest of us didn't have to pay for their diabetes treatments through higher premiums. 

That's a negative externality and it could be resolved by a tax, not a ban.

[Χahar]

I think Bloomberg is only doing this so he can call himself Lee Kuan Yew on the Hudson.

OH GOD... YES! Singapore has my favorite government in the world, if NYC became more like Singapore, that would be... indescribably amazing. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Have you ever been to Singapore?

[dead0man]

Honestly, if people want to be fat by consuming obnoxious amounts of sugar, then just let them. It's their problem.

It would be, if the rest of us didn't have to pay for their diabetes treatments through higher premiums.  

You do know that this logic train leads to a very bad place right?

[Lief]

Honestly, if people want to be fat by consuming obnoxious amounts of sugar, then just let them. It's their problem.

It would be, if the rest of us didn't have to pay for their diabetes treatments through higher premiums. 

You do know that this logic train leads to a very bad place right?

No one's saying we having to the take the train all the way to Fascist Station. We can get off before it gets all the way there.

[dead0man]

Well this (and dozens of other examples) shows we're already on the edge of the suburbs, can't we just stop it now, get off and see how we like this neighborhood?

[NY Jew]

I'm happy to see the forum is more or less in agreement about something. If a democrat had been mayor would they have done the same thing?

Bloomberg is a democrat (or at least he was before he only became a Republican to avoid a primary and then left the party)

[Communists For McCain]

Well, no surprise this is patently absurd.

I mean really, I don't get how somebody could defend Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  He seems to be hell bent on competing for the title "most anti-freedom" mayor in America.  Though I don't know how anyone else could really compete with this man.

It's funny how hacks like Lief defend Bloomberg, who is objectively horrible by the measure of most sane people on this board, as one who is merely fighting "libertarians".  Well, this is a very cute fantasy that ignores that Bloomberg has gone far beyond pissing off libertarians.  He's pretty much pissing off rational people at this time, and by rational I mean people who don't post articles to defend their extreme strawman view of an ideology they do not like.

Sure, I do not like tyrannic laws telling people what to do and what not to do, but a tax on the consumption of sodas per ounce might've been way more effective than an outright ban of sodas larger than 16 oz.  I mean really.
What's next King Michael?  Going to bring back Prohibition because of drunk driving accidents and domestic abuse?  Going to ban all kitchen knives to prevent home cooking accidents?  Going to ban cars because people get in car wrecks and car wrecks drive up health insurance premiums?  Going to ban school buses because kids need their exercise?

This crusade isn't heroic, it's retarded.

[True Federalist]

Sure, I do not like tyrannic laws telling people what to do and what not to do, but a tax on the consumption of sodas per ounce might've been way more effective than an outright ban of sodas larger than 16 oz.  I mean really.

NYC does not have the authority to impose such a tax on its own, and Bloomberg tried to get the State government to impose one, but failed to persuade them.