"This tax... is only gonna hurt."

I’d expect nothing less from the American Beverage Association—proud of ya! Getting kicked out of schools, and now, small Mom & Pops in Brooklyn and all over. With any sin, you can tax it as much as you want, but until you deal with the desire, good luck solving the problem. People. Will. Still. Pay. Good intentions—ineffective way to address it. Mostly because sin taxes attempting to curb behavior are done incrementally, not drastically. This new tax would likely be three cents per soda, not the 18% Governor Patterson pushed for.

People will complain, but they’ll still pay for it if forced to. Make the tax double the cost of the soda though? I’m guessing most people will stop. Irony, table of one: While the tax was also designed to offset President Obama’s proposed healthcare costs, the only ones who would pay for it here would only be the ones who drink soda. National healthcare would have those who relatively healthy individuals subsidizing the ones who need coverage.

Tax or no, good to see it still doesn’t cost a lot to eat poorly in America.