The Soda Tax – What it Really Means

Thursday, September 10th, 2009 Blog / Commentary by IARC

So, talk is swirling that a possible tax on sodas – a sin tax, may be in the works. This isn’t surprising, as additional revenue is needed to offset new spending proposals liberals want to enact in Congress.

The idea is an economic point that conservatives have long known and liberals are surprisingly conceding: the more you tax something, the less it will be used. Take this quote, which appeared in a Florida Today article: “The research around tobacco has shown that large increases on taxes on cigarettes has been the single-most effective policy to reduce tobacco use,” said Mary Story, a dietitian and public health professor at the University of Minnesota.

Interesting isn’t it, that liberals use the following motto for abortions: safe, legal, and rare, but they have yet to apply their tobacco tax theory to abortions. If increasing taxes on cigarettes reduces their use, shouldn’t we create a tax on abortions to make them truly rare?

Now, let’s note what the President himself said on the soda tax in the October issue of Men’s Health magazine: “It’s an idea that we should be exploring. There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda.”

Hhhm … Kids also eat popsicles, cookies, ice cream, drink chocolate milk, and well, you get the point, they like to eat things that are sweet. At some point, we all ate these things growing up and to an extent we probably still do on occasion. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be promoting healthy lifestyles. But at what point do we transition from a passive government providing such advice, to an activist government using our tax code to foist upon us a liberal vision of what we should or should not be eating or drinking?

This is a slippery slope that liberals would gladly force us to descend upon. Should we also tax biscuits, fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potatoes, and red meat? Is sugar the only cause of obesity? What about carbs, if we tax sugary drinks and foods, why wouldn’t we tax foods high in carbs? What about taxing people who don’t work out, isn’t a lack of regular exercise also a cause of obesity?

Instead of leaving it to us, our families and private sector resources to lead a healthy lifestyle, liberals want to make those choices for us. What the soda tax really means is defined by the conservative and liberal view of government’s role in our lives: we believe in liberty and the freedom to decide for ourselves what’s best for us. The other side believes in a paternalistic view of the American people who need an intrusive government making those decisions for them.

And if you really think having an occasional Coke is really all that bad, remember the lyrics of Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell, who actually had a hit song entitled “Go for Soda” in 1985:

“Might as well go for a soda
Nobody hurts and nobody cries
Might as well go for a soda
Nobody drowns and nobody dies”