Obesity Tax

Timesunion.com:

"The plan will come with a host of revenue raisers — increased taxes on hospitals and insurance policies, for instance — and at least one new assessment, a so-called obesity tax on non-diet soda to raise $404 million."

Yes, NY wants to tax non-diet sodas to keep us all from getting fat, all the while putting a little coin in their coffers. I have many, many problems with this. Let's see if I can put a few of those concerns into words.

First, it's not the Governments place to tell you how you should drink or eat. It isn't their place to say you should be this weight, or that weight.

Second, the last thing we need, especially NY citizens, is more taxes. What a ridiculous tax. What's next, a tax on two-ply toilet paper, because it causes twice as much pollution as the scratchy one-ply?

Third, the government of NY is using taxes to control it's citizens. They are using monetary incentives to direct their citizens lives. "No, no stupid child, the non-diet soda is bad for you and costs more, so be a good little child and get the healthy non-diet soda." This isn't just a tax increase, this is an attempt by a state government to CONTROL it's citizens. Now, I'm not saying the state doesn't have a right to control things, it certainly does, when it comes to issues like crime, but not when it comes to the daily drinking habits of it's citizens. It's a short jump from control over beverage consumption to control over what you can read and write, etc.

Besides which, who says diet soda is any healthier? Have you ever read the ingredients in a diet soda? It's like reading the back of a Mr. Clean bottle. Why not tax regular potato chips, so that everyone has to buy the fat free chips fried in Olestra oil. You know, the oil that causes leaky anal discharges. A leaky butt has to better for you than a fat pair of thighs.

You know what? Now that I think about it, I think it would be easier for the Government to simply start feeding all of us in large cafeterias. That way, none of us would have to think about what to eat. We wouldn't have to worry about making the wrong choices and getting fat, we'd just have to decide if we want the jello or the fruit salad for desert...

Hey government, it's me, Mr. Citizen. Look, I'm an imperfect being, I make mistakes, but that's ok. I learn from my mistakes if I want to, and I become a better person because of them, if I want to. But that's the point. It's my right to be how I want to be, it's my right to make mistakes and deal with the consequences, and it's my right to drink what I want to drink. So please, find money somewhere else, and quit infringing on my rights.