The New York Times received notice of my existence today.
Perhaps it will not fall on deaf ears. We shall see.
Regarding “Soda Tax Plan Sparks Debate”
I am thankful I don’t live in New York. With the latest hair-brained tax scheme devised in the Empire State–an 18% surcharge on sugary sodas–Paterson et al hope this penalty will raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the state, dramatically reduce obesity somehow, and all the while drive consumption of such beverages down by 5 %.
The message conveys the idea that drinking soda is a bad thing. It is neither good nor bad, but yet another minor enjoyment that shall be stripped from New Yorkers while the governmental class enriches itself. Prohibitively taxing products as benign as sugary soft drinks is akin to denying freedom and makes one wonder about the future role your state government has in mind.
This holier-than-thou attitude reeks of the Prohibition Era, and while not alcohol-specific, the plan is as the timeless G.K. Chesterton posited, “an intemperate denunciation of temperate drinking.”
The first letter here is a good response to this issue. The second, not so much… myopic in scope, melioristic in attitude, and idiotic on all levels.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/opinion/l20kristof.html?_r=2