Do You Support .03 CentTax On Sugar Drinks?

[otohara]

Poll question: Do You Support .03 CentTax On Sugar Drinks?

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Remove the frankencorn subsidies instead of another regressive tax

High fructose corn poison is the problem. And Donald Rumsfeld's neuro toxin Aspartame (which apparently would not be subject to the same tax) is NOT the solution.

[vaberella]

3. Actually doing both this and the tax are fine by me too. Aspartame stuff tastes like crap. n/t

[thunder rising]

14. Sugar tariffs are the problem. HRCS is poison and the corps love it 'cause it kills slowly.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. Sugar tariffs and corn subsidies both lead to the prevalence of HFCS in this country

But ask the anti-trade crowd here and they will tell you that we need to protect American jobs and that imported food isn't safe.

[vaberella]

2. To be honest....can we raise that to .10% tax. A $.15 cent tax is agreeable to me too. n/t

[Kokonoe]

4. They should make a corn syrup tax.

Sugar should be untaxed.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. How 'bout don't really care, but would like...

a deposit on ALL bottles.

[sandnsea]

6. drinks, chips, cookies, fast food, cigs, gas, booze, bullets

Anything that significantly contributes to medical costs.

And implement a single payer plan.

[depakid]

8. Just not beer!

:o

(What a ruckus that one raised).

[Oregone]

7. Tax the manufacturers. Its their choice to pass it onto the consumers or develop healthier products

Their profits can absorb this cost, Id image.

[Cronus Protagonist]

13. +1

GO!

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. You don't think that tax would get passed down the line?

Hah.

[Hippo_Tron]

19. Taxes don't automatically get passed down to the consumer

The manufacturer has to determine at what price they should sell their product at in order to maximize their profit. If they are pricing at marginal cost then yes they would have to raise their price or else they would be producing at a loss. But soft drink manufacturers have a great degree of monopoly power and they charge significantly more for their products tha their marginal cost. If they pass that 5 cent tax on to the consumer, some consumers will stop buying their product. They need to calculate whether or not the additional revenue they collect from the extra 5 cents for each sale is more than the loss in revenue they get from losing customres. And that's actually just the most basic calculation they have to make.

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. Thanks for the Microecon 101 lesson

I taught that class about 10 times, myself.

Costs get passed on until they can't get passed on - that's how it would actually work in the real world. That's part of why gasoline prices are so volatile.

[krispos42]

9. I need more information

Is this a 3% tax? Or is it 3¢?

And what is it per? Per pound? Per ton? Per unit sold?

Will the tax on a 2-liter bottle be the same as on a 12-ounce can?

And will it also cover high-fructose corn syrup?

[onenote]

24. its a three cent per 12 oz serving excise tax

[krispos42]

25. Okay, thank you n/t

[boppers]

10. .03 Cents?

So, a soda that cost $.50 would cost... $.5003 ?

Do we even have currency for that?

[krabigirl]

11. Sure.

[OHdem10]

12. I just do not like all these punish the sinner taxes.

The Left can find more sins to tax and the Right is always trying to
get into our bedrooms.

I wish times were better. This is just me, myself and I. I would
rather contribute a small amount to a Health Fund.(Taxes)

[ohheckyeah]

27. I agree.

I'm so sick of all of this shit.

[Vidar]

15. I have no objection.

[cleveramerican]

17. It cements democrats image as serial taxers

I thinks its good policy, but the politics of it are very very bad.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

18. That kind of indirect harassment through tax policy makes for an alienating civilization.

That kind of indirect harassment through tax policy makes for an alienating civilization.

If someone wants to use tax policy to reduce obesity then do it honestly -- tax body weight.

If that sounds unfair, why?

The correlation between the goal and tax policy is 100%. Couldn't be fairer.

Rather than trying to generalize about what makes people overweight just tax weight and let individuals react however is best for them. Maybe someone needs to eat less fat or get more activity... taxing Coke will not "help" them much.

A fat tax is probably regressive. But, of course, a soda tax is fiercely regressive.

"But it's only three cents!" Well, if it is "only" three cents then lets skip it.

If being heavy isn't someone's fault then maybe wanting to drink soda isn't someone's fault either.

Actually taxing the problem sounds shocking and unfair only because we have a conditioned passive-aggressive national style.

[rvablue]

22. You need "other" in the your poll. That's how I would've voted.

Yes for soda, energy drinks and anything with less than 15% fruit juice.

But I don't want juice taxed. I'm not a big juice drinker, but taxing them, even the ones with not a lot of juice, a lot of water, and yes, sometimes too much sugar, would unduly burden lower income people and they need that juice for their kids.

[ecstatic]

23. I think it's a stupid idea (and I don't buy sugar drinks)

It won't curb behavior and it's an awesome shiny new thing for rethugs to harp on. Not worth it.

Add a one cent tax to paper.

[IndianaGreen]

26. Support the soda tax and lose the elections

This tax will hit the poor, working poor, and lower middle class the hardest.

[comtec]

28. I support a .03 cent tax but N O T for the reason listed

which is entirely self serving and only leads to self masturbatory behavior where you get to say :hey ppl agree with me!"

I don't mind any reasonable tax that would pay for health care for all.

I was/am also in favor of the 5c road tax that we tried to put on gasoline so that EVERYONE in the state would have basic insurance 15/30/5 in california.

that was killed by the insurance industry.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

29. Per unit? Per ounce? What are we talking here?

More details are necessary.

[old mark]

30. Sure. Heavy tax on beer and alcohol doesn't seem to hurt consumption,

and I haven't heard of breweries going out of business.
The arguments against the tax is just bullshit.

mark

[Zavulon]

31. Fuck, no. I don't support any regressive tax, and I don't support any new tax that

would be a violation of Obama's campaign pledge on taxes: "I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes...you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime."

He already broke his promise with the tax hike on cigarettes, which is another regressive tax, and I'm still pissed at him for it. I expect better than that out of him, and "He's not McCain" isn't good enough. I do not support any new tax on sugary drinks or any other grocery item, "healthy" or not. I want him to keep his goddamned promise from this point on with no exceptions, including health care. If he doesn't, he might want to start expecting me to stay home in 2012.

[Autumn]

32. Why not have them tax everything,

even the fucking air that we breathe.

[Mugu]

33. 3 cents is nothing.

If they're going to do this, then make it a real tax. Say like .03 per oz.

[TheKentuckian]

34. I'm not a believer in behavior modification through the tax code

Lets get the money from the people that have and can spare some at this time. We can look at regressive taxes like this if need be but it is bad politics to keep nipping at the little people before or without bringing back some fairness to wealth distribution.