I have been reading some on the proposed beverage tax and also following it on the air when possible but still can’t make up my mind if I am for it or against it.
Hey, everyone knows that sugared beverages in excess are not great for the old body. Personally I drink diet soda so I may get a pass on this nuisance tax. It’s not really the tax that bothers me. It’s several other things.
I can start with the fact that I don’t really care for Uncle Sam being the arbiter of my eating habits, even when well intentioned. Old Sam has a seriously poor record when it comes to knowing what works for me. Actually that’s wrong- Congress has a bad track record of implementing legislation that effectively helps me. Again, regardless of good intent.
Now I know that there is talk about a chunk of the extorted funds going to help offset the cost of health care reform. I’m for that under the right conditions. The right conditions being that viable health reform legislation is passed and implemented. Ineffective legislation is like flat soda, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and shouldn’t be bought.
What of the collected taxes if health care supporters don’t have enough juice to get strong or any health care reform legislation passed? Does tax money go somewhere else? Where and why?
In the event that health care reform fizzles out, I can live with beverage tax money going somewhere else. How about pouring it into a fund that will help to cover medical expenses for those that don’t have insurance? Or maybe it can go toward offsetting insurance costs for the working poor? Or would that preempt the need for certain aspects of health care reform?
