Despite a flood of protests, Barack Hussein Obama is considering asking Congress to levy a 18% ‘sin tax’ on the soda you drink.
In an interview with Men’s Health magazine released Monday, Obama said the tax would be worth it if it helps to fight obesity among children in this country.
“It’s an idea that we should be exploring,” said Obama. “There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else.”
Obama is considering the sin tax as a way to help cover the costs of health care reform which is expected to take a $1 trillion dollar chunk out of the federal deficit.
By comparison, Canadian citizens have access to free heath care but at a high price. Canadians each pay $3,800 a year more in taxes to cover their health care.
The population of Canada is 33 million, while the U.S. population is over 300 million. Even with the tax increase on sodas and other sugary beverages, Americans would have to consume tons of sodas to cover health care for 300 million Americans. Not to mention the 15 million or so illegal aliens who will also take advantage of free health care.
While Obama acknowledges that his sin tax on sodas smacks of social engineering, he doesn’t much care:
“Look, people’s attitude is that they don’t necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that,” Obama said.
“It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people’s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful.”
