I. Told. You. So.

To every person who ever called me a crank (or worse) for saying that once you allow the Feds or the state to tax one consumable they’ll go after others, I have four words for you:  I TOLD YOU SO!
It is a liberty issue, morons!

Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system.

The taxes would pay for only a fraction of the cost to expand health-insurance coverage to all Americans and would face strong opposition from the beverage industry. They also could spark a backlash from consumers who would have to pay several cents more for a soft drink.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is set to hear proposals from about a dozen experts about how to pay for the comprehensive health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama wants to enact this year. Early estimates put the cost of the plan at around $1.2 trillion. The administration has so far only earmarked funds for about half of that amount.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

Senior staff members for some Democratic senators at the center of the effort to craft health-care legislation are weighing the idea behind closed doors, Senate aides said.

In the Wall Street Journal, by subscription.

4 thoughts on “I. Told. You. So.”

  1. They will tax anything. Then put a sales tax on the excise tax. The insider, government as solution party ( which contains all Democrats and some Republicans ) loves to find new “sources of revenue”. But the real source of revenue is you and I. Taxes can only decrease in that instant of time between the election of a new reformist majority and the discovery by that “reformist” majority that they can buy votes with tax money. In 1994, Republicans won and were reformers. By 1996, they were the establishment. In 2006, Democrats won but became establishment taxers before they even took their seats. There are benefits to long serving legislators but tax policy is NEVER one of them.

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