Revenue down ? Tax everything!
by TedNew York Health Official Calls for Tax on Drinks With Sugar
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/health/09soda.html
A month after Gov. David A. Paterson dropped his proposal for a soda tax, New York City’s health commissioner has written an article advocating “hefty” taxes on sodas and sports drinks containing sugar. Such a tax, the article said, could be the biggest boon to public health since tobacco taxes.
The President of the American Beverage Association issued a statement on Wednesday responding to the article: “We agree that obesity is a serious and complex problem. It defies both science and common sense, however, to think singling out one product as a unique contributor to obesity will make a dent in the problem.” They dispute the link between sugar-laden drinks and obesity, saying that soft drink sales have been declining for much of this decade, as obesity rates have been rising.
Director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, says that based on experience with tobacco taxes, a soda tax would be “highly effective” in reducing the $79 billion in annual health care costs associated with obesity and overweight across the country.
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