Is Soda Tax A Good Idea?

What do you think after hearing the “soda tax”? Most people will think that they don’t care about it, but we have to think about that we already have to pay more tax for a lot of products, like the extra five cents for each bottle of water and soda, and now we have even to pay the extra tax for the soda. A soda tax decrease beverage sales.

According to the article “Soda Taxes Are Nothing More Than A Money Grab”, the author states “In this case, we’re meant to believe that a sin tax is being implemented for the good of the children and for the betterment of the citizenry’s health….And while the activists may actually believe these things, from a political point of view these taxes are little more than a money grab by increasingly desperate governments looking to plug holes in their budget.” It is a truth that the government claims that the tax is used for the health program, but in fact it is only a method which the government uses to increase their budget. More taxes can’t make our economy better, in fact, this tax will make more families’ budget tightly, and will increase the burden of their lives.

Soda tax can’t change consumers’ behavior anyway, but it will make them buy less beverages. Not only the decreasing beverage sales, it is just a beginning, and the soda tax will make some bad results in the future. In the article “New York State Teamsters Rally Against Soda Tax”, the author mentions that “Not only does the soda tax hurt consumers, it will hurt small business and result in further job losses because the soda tax would result in declining beverage sales, and causing wide-spread job losses.” The government should stop these methods to collect money from people because it is not helpful for the terrible economy, and it will make more problems for the economy.

I think that most people will disagree the soda tax, it seems that the government wants to do something for the people with the money, but we never know it is a truth or not. The soda tax will not stop people buying soda, so it is just an excuse that the government claims that they will use to increase people’s health. The government should stop the soda tax because it will not good for most people.

Reference:
"Soda Taxes Are Nothing More Than A Money Grab". Advertising Age. March 15,2010

"INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS; New York State Teamsters Rally Against Soda Tax". Food Business Week. April 8, 2010