Last summer the sushi-and-tofu crowd tried to get Congress to pass soda taxes as part of the healthcare legislation.
Of course, levying extra taxes on American staples like Coca-Cola and orange juice is about as popular as a tax on Christmas cards so the proposal didn’t really go anywhere. But now it appears that the state budget crisis in New York might just bring the soda tax back from the dead.
According to an email alert from Americans Against Food Taxes, Governor Patterson is proposing a whopping 12-cent per can tax on soda and sweetened drinks. If passed, such a tax would increase the cost of your average 12-pack by nearly 30 percent!
But you can help fight back.
The good folks at Americans Against Food Taxes have put together an email that you can send to your elected representatives. So join Coca-Cola, The American Beverage Association and countless bottlers, distributors and shopkeepers by telling Gov. Patterson not to tax the simple pleasures we all enjoy.
Is there a more regressive tax imaginable than this?
Unemployment is taxable income. But beyond that, I suppose if you slapped a tax on food-bank handouts or bus fares that might be as regressive.