“Count the Day Won When, Turning on Its Axis …”
“This earth imposes no additional taxes.” So wrote the prescient Franklin P. Adams.
The proposed soda tax is all over the media; here is a good summary article in the New York Times.
It’s interesting that no one suggests a soda buyback. Buybacks, I’ve been told, get guns off the streets. So, why not sodas? Because people would just go out and buy more sodas? Maybe they could do that with guns, too …
The buyback thought experiment illustrates that a soda tax is not really about saving people from the dangers of soda, power drinks, and fruit juice. If that were the goal, there are many possible avenues to reduce soda consumption other than buybacks, such as public service messages (like the ads in New York City) or soda-free zones around schools. The main purpose of a soda tax is to generate revenue.
If the tax passes, I wonder how long it will take before legislators call for a soda tax holiday?
