Should sugary drinks and soda be taxed?

[TDAS04]

What do you think?  Should their be a specific tax on such beverages?

[RaphaelDLG]

Obviously.  As someone who drinks them, they are right up there with cigarettes, alcohol, etc as public health dangers/leading causes of death in this country and major productivity costs to society, and shouldn't be outright banned but should be punitively taxed.

If people are going to create medicaid/medicare/social security/emergency room bill costs for others to pay in large part due to the prolific consumption of empty calorie sugary drinks in this country, they should pay a tax to help fund those costs/taxes should be used as a form of negative punishment for such consumption.

[TDAS04]

I vote yes.  As much as I hate excessive taxes on the poor (I certainly don't like taxes on essential items), taxes on unhealthy beverages appear to be working where they exist.  Improving public health is an obvious plus.

[Goldwater]

I generally dislike sin taxes, so no.

[OSR stands with Israel]

No

[angus]

No.  Doesn't the USA exist exactly because of this sort of thing?  Well, I guess that was tea, but we don't drink much tea anymore, so it's basically the same.

In general, I don't think food should be taxed, but whether or not it is taxed, I just wish the prices included taxes.  That's a bigger issue, in my opinion.  It's so annoying to think something costs 99 cents, and when you go to pay for it they say, "a dollar and five, please." 

[Santander]

Of course. It's time for the poor to pay their fair share.

[Sir Tiki]

I generally dislike sin taxes, so no.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Yeah. The government needs to work to make healthy food cost less than unhealthy food.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Yes. If soda was not so cheap compared to water/healthier beverages, I would be less inclined to drink them. I think a lot of people would feel the same way.

[courts]

i don't really have a huge problem with this. provided they don't constantly hike taxes on soda like democrats have with cigarettes. i don't smoke but that's gotten kind of ridiculous. just encourages people to smuggle them or something.

[Mr. Smith]

Yeah. The government needs to work to make healthy food cost less than unhealthy food.

[Mr. Reactionary]

As long as we are taxing luxuries,  why not tax organic foods, almond milk, coffee, tea, stevia, red meat, ice cream, butter, spices, makeup, birkenstock footwear, and deodorant? Hell why not special taxes on everything, or at least everything I dont do.

[Santander]

makeup

Oh no you don't.

[Mr. Reactionary]

makeup

Oh no you don't.

REJECT AZAZEL!

[RaphaelDLG]

As long as we are taxing luxuries,  why not tax organic foods, almond milk, coffee, tea, stevia, red meat, ice cream, butter, spices, makeup, birkenstock footwear, and deodorant? Hell why not special taxes on everything, or at least everything I dont do.

None of those things create negative externalities to the massive extent that soda consumption does

[Santander]

As long as we are taxing luxuries,  why not tax organic foods, almond milk, coffee, tea, stevia, red meat, ice cream, butter, spices, makeup, birkenstock footwear, and deodorant? Hell why not special taxes on everything, or at least everything I dont do.

None of those things create negative externalities to the massive extent that soda consumption does

Birckenstocks are far worse.

[RaphaelDLG]

As long as we are taxing luxuries,  why not tax organic foods, almond milk, coffee, tea, stevia, red meat, ice cream, butter, spices, makeup, birkenstock footwear, and deodorant? Hell why not special taxes on everything, or at least everything I dont do.

None of those things create negative externalities to the massive extent that soda consumption does

Birckenstocks are far worse.

Touche!

[Kingpoleon]

I will not pay a tax on a cup of tea.
I will not pay a soda tax, oh no, not me.
I and America oppose any such oppressive tax.
We have for the ages of the phone, the farm, and the fax.

[Mr. Reactionary]

As long as we are taxing luxuries,  why not tax organic foods, almond milk, coffee, tea, stevia, red meat, ice cream, butter, spices, makeup, birkenstock footwear, and deodorant? Hell why not special taxes on everything, or at least everything I dont do.

None of those things create negative externalities to the massive extent that soda consumption does

Organic food undermines cheap wholesome america inc food. Almonds drain water in cali. Coffee and tea are abysmal towards your stomache and bladder. Red meat causes global warming and heart disease. Ice cream is no different than soda. Butter has cholesterol. Some spices exploit local environments. Makeup is tested on animals. Birkenstick is made from animals.

The issue is patterns of consumption, not mere consumption itself. Drinking a pepsi has nowhere near the impact as eating a carton of Rocky road every week. It seems like the choice of which unhealthy thing to ban is decided purely upon cinvenience, not true weighting.

Plus I can never get behind one of thses taxes on "sugary drinks" where sugar free diet coke is taxed but not starbucks drinks with sugar. I often feel like those who want a tax on poor dumb sick people are just too afraid to say so.

[courts]

you raise good points. i mean it is somewhat regressive. but if it's like a penny per ounce it's not that drastic of an increase. also i doubt very many people here would object to a small sugar tax or something along those lines.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

No. But it's not the end of the world - as long as soda that contains poisons like aspartame is taxed too.

I know soda rotted my teeth, but that's just life. I'd rather have holes in my teeth from sugar than cancer from aspartame.

[FairBol]

What do you think?  Should their be a specific tax on such beverages?

Government should stay out of my diet.  Sure, they can tell me what foods are more nutritious than others.  However, when it comes to encouraging or discouraging the consumption of certain foods (which to me, is telling me what I should and shouldn't eat)....I say "not just no, but hell no". 

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I cannot follow any logic that suggests ciggy and alcohol taxes are OK, but soda taxes are bad.

(although that isn't to say a soda tax would be THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD, mainly because they'll suffer the same dilemma that the above taxes face - eventually the idea of a disincentive is hard when your budget starts to rely on top-ups from the tobacco tax etc)

[GoTfan]

No. This is where my libertarian streak comes out. I don't believe that cigarettes, alcohol or soft drinks should be taxed at all. It won't resolve the public health concerns that people claim it will.

I might be a raging lefty, but I don't believe that excessive taxes are necessary.