Philadelphia Soda Tax

[Adam]

Perhaps a mistake...

 

http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/22/with-sales-depressed-by-soda-tax-philly

[mtangelsfan]

My favorite part:

Kenney put an even finer point on it.

"I didn't think it was possible for the soda industry to be any greedier," Kenney said in an emailed statement to Philly.com reporter Julia Terruso. "They are so committed to stopping this tax from spreading to other cities, that they are not only passing the tax they should be paying onto their customer, they are actually willing to threaten working men and women's jobs rather than marginally reduce their seven figure bonuses."

It's not the first time Kenney has tried to ignore basic economics when it comes to the soda tax. A few weeks ago, he blamed grocery stores and restaurants for "price gouging" when they increased prices for sugary drinks to make consumers pay for the cost of the tax (the tax is technically applied on the transaction between distributors and retailers, but, like all other taxes, it gets passed along).

 

 

 

 

Just stupid.

[Tank]

instead of creating a new tax, how about working with beverage companies to make a healthier product? what they produce is pure crap for the body, so why not also include some healthier options and let people choose?

i'd be fine if we got rid of soda completely, but that's not likely to happen.

[Adam]

There are plenty of health alternatives available, many of which are produced by those same companies. 

[mtangelsfan]

So many things out there are bad for your health if not used in moderation.  It isn't the government's job or right to tell people what to eat, drink etc.

[Ordos]

"It's one of those basic laws of economics: when you tax something, you get less of it."

Trump should just tax Mexicans, not their products.

[Adam]

So many things solved! 

[Jay]

15 minutes ago, Ordos said:

"It's one of those basic laws of economics: when you tax something, you get less of it."

Trump should just tax Mexicans, not their products.

You might be onto something there...

[gotbeer]

Tax soda.  It'll help pay the bills.

After taxing soda, people stop buying as much.

We need to raise taxes even more, we aren't raising enough to meet budget.

It's like a vicious cycle of the politicians that have no self control.  The best taxes are the temporary ones though.  Because I can't remember one that has been.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Whenever somebody is hawking a prospective tax on one thing or another, they invariably base their figures of projected revenue on level or slightly increased sales. Simple economics: If something costs more, people buy less of it. If the tax is high enough, sales can be all but killed. I suspect that this is, in part, what is behind the FDA's attempt to regulate premium cigars. It isn't about raising revenue. It's about killing a legal industry.

[Tank]

11 hours ago, mtangelsfan said:

So many things out there are bad for your health if not used in moderation.  It isn't the government's job or right to tell people what to eat, drink etc.

while i agree with your assertion, i guess what bothers me so much is that it's okay for the soda companies to produce and sell a product that is so harmful. why is that okay with us as a society? should gov't step in on something that is so knowingly harmful? but then i remember all the varieties of alcohol and tobacco that exist and well, there's my answer.

[Lou]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

while i agree with your assertion, i guess what bothers me so much is that it's okay for the soda companies to produce and sell a product that is so harmful. why is that okay with us as a society? should gov't step in on something that is so knowingly harmful? but then i remember all the varieties of alcohol and tobacco that exist and well, there's my answer.

and fast food. cakes, pies, snickers, milky ways, potato chips, attending public schools,driving to usc, dating South American women . . .

[mtangelsfan]

4 hours ago, Tank said:

while i agree with your assertion, i guess what bothers me so much is that it's okay for the soda companies to produce and sell a product that is so harmful. why is that okay with us as a society? should gov't step in on something that is so knowingly harmful? but then i remember all the varieties of alcohol and tobacco that exist and well, there's my answer.

Absolutely not.  

[gotbeer]

12 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Whenever somebody is hawking a prospective tax on one thing or another, they invariably base their figures of projected revenue on level or slightly increased sales. Simple economics: If something costs more, people buy less of it. If the tax is high enough, sales can be all but killed. I suspect that this is, in part, what is behind the FDA's attempt to regulate premium cigars. It isn't about raising revenue. It's about killing a legal industry.

Right now, Colorado and Washington are suddenly crying foul about their Marijuana.  It's bringing in their blood money, I mean tax money.  But not as much as they hoped, and their tribute is quickly getting smaller and smaller.  Why?  Well there is this thing that if you make something legal, everyone gets in on it.  And while the demand is slightly increasing.  The supply has just skyrocketed.  And when you have too much supply, and not enough demand, shockingly the price goes down.  Which means the blood money goes down.  And since they have already cashed that check, well what's more debt going to matter? 

[Adam]

4 hours ago, Lou said:

and fast food. cakes, pies, snickers, milky ways, potato chips,  dating South American women . . .

And there is nothing wrong with any of those things in moderation. 

[Lhalo]

2 minutes ago, Adam said:

And there is nothing wrong with any of those things in moderation. 

Especially Snickers.

 

 

Frozen.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

7 hours ago, Tank said:

while i agree with your assertion, i guess what bothers me so much is that it's okay for the soda companies to produce and sell a product that is so harmful. why is that okay with us as a society? should gov't step in on something that is so knowingly harmful? but then i remember all the varieties of alcohol and tobacco that exist and well, there's my answer.

It's unfortunate because when people are unhealthy (healthcare costs), have kids they can't afford (welfare, education), etc. that impacts the rest of us because we have to pay for it.  That said I'm not in favor of the government getting any more involved in our lives than they already are.  You give them an inch and they'll control more aspects of our lives while finding more reasons to tax us.

[AngelsLakersFan]

It blows my mind that they implemented this tax to raise money NOT to decrease consumption. 

While I am against both, if we are ultimately going to end up with state run health care it makes sense to put a tax on high sugar products, tobacco and really shitty food (and dating south american women).

[Lou]

19 hours ago, Adam said:

And there is nothing wrong with any of those things in moderation. 

you've obviously never dated a South American woman 

[Lou]

19 hours ago, Lawrence said:

Especially Snickers.

Frozen.

interestingly enough, that's how ALF likes his South American women 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Lou

[Jason]

On 2/23/2017 at 4:26 AM, Lou said:

and fast food. cakes, pies, snickers, milky ways, potato chips, attending public schools,driving to usc, dating South American women . . .

I'd like to hear the story behind this

[Jason]

On 2/23/2017 at 1:29 AM, Tank said:

while i agree with your assertion, i guess what bothers me so much is that it's okay for the soda companies to produce and sell a product that is so harmful. why is that okay with us as a society? should gov't step in on something that is so knowingly harmful? but then i remember all the varieties of alcohol and tobacco that exist and well, there's my answer.

I worry that elected officials will start making their own definitions of what is harmful.I'm sure there are politicians that are vegans that think red meat is poison. Screw that!

[Glen]

I keep reading the title as "Philadelphia soap tax." That would generate less revenue.

[Adam]

They should tax racism

[Lhalo]

4 hours ago, Lou said:

interestingly enough, that's how ALF likes his South American women cats.

Yep