18% Soda tax sparks debate-NY Times

[editec]

Ya cause professional politicians have done SO well every where else?

Yes, as a matter of fact, they have.

 

[del]

Did we?

Wasn't the junk food tax enacted over ten years ago?

And wasn't it repealed just a few years ago?

The same people?

Well...I suppose there isn't a huge turnover in Maine legislators so you may be right about that.

I personally think we ought to get rid of our part-time legislators and get some professionals who can devote their full attentions to the task.

I don't know about you, but I continue to be wildly underimpressed by the average intelligence of Maine's legislators.

they don't seem to know much about what they are typically voting on.

There are exceptions, of course, but most of them don't strike me as particualrly intelligent.

i thought you said you lived in MA at one point and you think a full time legislature is a good idea!?

damn, you must not have been paying attention.

 

[editec]

i thought you said you lived in MA at one point and you think a full time legislature is a good idea!?

damn, you must not have been paying attention.

Well obviously that's not the only thing that matters, but having spoken with many of the Maine Pols, I am constantly astounded by how little they seem to understand complex issues facing them.

Retired teachers and real estate agents who are merely locally popular enough to get elected are not, I think, equipped to deal with the complex issues facing our state.


To some extent we here in Maine who live under the reign of selectmen (who are miserably paidm part timers, too) suffer the same problem.

Unable to devote the kind of attention they need to grasp the issues at hand they vote with their hearts rather than their heads.

 

[chrismac]

Actually, a lot of the obesity issue is tied to income. I mean, it's not just that low-income families think Doritos and Mountain Dew and McDonald's are fine cuisine, but when you're dead ass broke or on a budget, you buy cheaply and in bulk. The better quality foods, even with generally unhealthy foods like cheese puffs, are more expensive. A lot of people would rather spend three bucks on Cheetos and Lemon-Lime Big K than six bucks on Michael Season's Lite Cheese Puffs and Organic Apple Juice.

 

[Mad Scientist]

We're in a bad situation already. The poor receive more social services here than most cities, states. The soda tax will hurt poor people? Have you ever heard of water, plain ole H2O? It quenches your thirst and you need it to survive. My kids love soda and will snatch it from me every chance they can. Most of the time, I insist they drink water rather than soda or sugar. I'm not poor, but I just use my judgement as a parent. The kids need the flouride from the water anyway.

I do drink a lot of water. From the tap as well as bottled. (We get our water from our private well that is filtered in our basement by the way) But if people want to drink soda, it's their own damn business not the gubamints'.

I already pay for water anyway, why not a soda tax? You know what I dislike more? That darn 5 cent deposit on cans and sodas. That's more annoying than anything else we've discussed.

Why not a soda tax? Because gubamints gonna' do the same thing with that tax as they're doing with the TARP money, waste it!
At least I can get the deposit back, the tax is never coming back. And good luck getting the tax repealed somewhere down the line.

You know, with the way gubamint has screwed up Social Security I'm amazed that anyone would support a tax increase on anything!

 

[PoliticalChic]

I do drink a lot of water. From the tap as well as bottled. (We get our water from our private well that is filtered in our basement by the way) But if people want to drink soda, it's their own damn business not the gubamints'.

Why not a soda tax? Because gubamints gonna' do the same thing with that tax as they're doing with the TARP money, waste it!
At least I can get the deposit back, the tax is never coming back. And good luck getting the tax repealed somewhere down the line.

You know, with the way gubamint has screwed up Social Security I'm amazed that anyone would support a tax increase on anything!

I'm not saying the tax is such a great idea, but the other choices are not as palatable.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm not saying the tax is such a great idea, but the other choices are not as palatable.

Um, what am I missing here? I thought the choice was tax or no tax. You mean people getting fat? That's their own business right? You believe in Civil Liberties or not?
My obese Aunt and Uncle, who have a refrigerator in their bedroom of all places, call it a "Lifestyle Choice" and are very defensive about it.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Um, what am I missing here? I thought the choice was tax or no tax. You mean people getting fat? That's their own business right? You believe in Civil Liberties or not?
My obese Aunt and Uncle, who have a refrigerator in their bedroom of all places, call it a "Lifestyle Choice" and are very defensive about it.

The choice is tax or no tax (but, then the city, state has to cut back on services). Lifestyle Choice? Sounds like a oneway ticket to the grave.

 

[dilloduck]

The choice is tax or no tax (but, then the city, state has to cut back on services). Lifestyle Choice? Sounds like a oneway ticket to the grave.

We all got one when we were born.

 

[PoliticalChic]

We all got one when we were born.

Do you means the paths of glory?

 

[dilloduck]

Do you means the paths of glory?

If that means a one way ticket to the grave--yes

 

[PoliticalChic]

If that means a one way ticket to the grave--yes

You can take a leisurely trip or take a high speed jet. Which one would you take?

 

[alan1]

while we're at it, let's tax activities that are "bad for you"

Certainly having sex is bad because you can contract a disease.

Surely walking on the street is bad because you could get hit by a car

Do I even have to mention driving? Driving kills more people than soda. We should put a government issued meter on your car. You have to swipe a credit card before you start your car and then a per mile tax is charged.

Now THAT"S A GOOD IDEA. We'll save lives AND the planet.

Heh, did you you know that a mileage tax is already being studied?
Road User Study | The University of Iowa
Seems the government just can't help but take your money for any excuse they can think of.

 

[dilloduck]

You can take a leisurely trip or take a high speed jet. Which one would you take?

In relationship to infinity the difference is microscopic.

 

[DiveCon]

You can take a leisurely trip or take a high speed jet. Which one would you take?

shouldnt that be left to the individual, and not the government?

 

[alan1]

Part of the problem with taxing personal choices as a way of garnering income for the government (although it is usually disguised as a means to alter behavior) is that it just doesn't solve the problems it was meant to cure.
Raise the tax on tobacco, and less people smoke. Since the tobacco tax was built into the budget and fewer people are now smoking, the budgeted income never materializes. So, the government officials (in their typical idiotic false wisdom) now decide to tax soda. Which will result in fewer soda's being sold. But holy shit, they budgeted that tax (based on last years tax free sales) into there spending spree of tax income. Which results in yet another budget deficit requiring yet another tax on some sort of thing that fools will accept. It's a never ending cycle.

Oh, and back to my first sentence. Since when is taxation the preferred method for government to alter behavior? Hey, there is an income tax, does that mean the government doesn't want people to have an income?

 

[KittenKoder]

BatBoy gets it.

 

[Againsheila]

You can take a leisurely trip or take a high speed jet. Which one would you take?

I guess that depends on which one is more fun.....What good is life if you can't enjoy it? And no, I don't just mean food. Sky Diving is dangerous yet a lot of people do it. So is skiing, snow boarding, skateboarding, etc.....

 

[garyd]

It is not the governments job to ensure that you find happiness especially if doing so requires that you infringe upon someone ele's right to make an ass of themselves.

PolC... please it is the first sign of an overabundance of government that it cannot live within its means.

 

[alan1]

BatBoy gets it.

I'm only here to help.