Soda Tax On Working Americans Proposed To Fund Health Care

Is there anyone out there that still wants to defend Obama's promise of "no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase". First there was the tax on cigarettes (62 cents/pack) to fund S-Chip, and now a federal tax on pop is in the works under the guise of making America less lardassish and to fund the outlandishly expensive health care reform. From WSJ:

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.

Too bad Pepsi's new PR campaign to alter their logo to a "Yes, We Can!" motif didn't win any hearts and minds with the political class. Perhaps if Washington spent less time concocting new schemes to tax working Americans and more time figuring out how to not send dead people social security checks, they'd save some money.