So would diet soda not be taxed?
Or does that cause cancer instead of obesity, so would also present a "burden on the city" ?

I would be for the tax if all the revenue from it went into "healthy" lifestyle/living campaigns and programs, but guess what - it would just back to the city to spend on whatever.

people pay for bottled water that is marked up 1000% so why the hell not tax soda?
good lord..whats next?
masturbation tax?
just what i wanted..big brother to worry about my health by way of taxation.
bunch o dickheads...

Finally, i just hope (as spawnflagger points out) that they take into consideration all factors, diet soda should be taxed as well in my opinion as artificial sweeteners are potentially worse than sugar.

It makes sense because people don't need to pay the tax, they just need to stop drinking soda, and that's not killing anyone, in fact it's helping them - healthwise anyway.

I don't drink soda so I don't care.

Says the narrow-minded girl in the glasses.

I would vote in support of this, just as I would for taxes(which we have) on other unhealthy vices like gambling, alcohol and tobacco. The government is an extension of society and through this apparatus, society can help protect citizens from its ills. Childhood obesity is a serious problem for our country and soda is a main cause of this. What this type of tax is designed to do is make people think about regulating their intake of this type of product, while revenues of the tax are put into public-health media and projects.

Of course it erodes on the individual's freedom... so I feel ethically tarnished by supporting such an action that victimizes my liberty, however I am a citizen in a community and I feel the need to protect the wellbeing of myself AS WELL AS the others in my community.

>> ^rabidness:
I would vote in support of this, just as I would for taxes(which we have) on other unhealthy vices like gambling, alcohol and tobacco. The government is an extension of society and through this apparatus, society can help protect citizens from its ills. Childhood obesity is a serious problem for our country and soda is a main cause of this. What this type of tax is designed to do is make people think about regulating their intake of this type of product, while revenues of the tax are put into public-health media and projects.
Of course it erodes on the individual's freedom... so I feel ethically tarnished by supporting such an action that victimizes my liberty, however I am a citizen in a community and I feel the need to protect the wellbeing of myself AS WELL AS the others in my community.

This is plain and simple. The government wants money so they tax things and sometimes they disguise the taxation as something for our benefit. Did raising the taxes on alcohol and tobacco ever stop me? Nope. It just made me pay more. I don't drink soda all that often either so it's easy for me to say "who cares?" but this really is about the government getting it's dick-skinners in where it doesn't need to be. Some of us are fat...that's the way it is and that's the way it's gonna be.

If you drink one 12 oz soda per day, on average, you will gain 15 lbs per year.

I so very rarely drink soda nowadays, so I really don't care. I'm skinny. Tax the fat, since they're the source of the majority of our health care costs.

I wish the tax went further. Is there any wonder why the Chinese refer to Americans as "The Fat Ones?"

good god...
some people actually think this a GOOD idea?
talk about ignoring history and relevant patterns in government.
give a government the power to tax something,obstensibly for a good reason or not and you will see that not only will government utilize that power..it will EXPAND it using the very same logic that made the first step acceptable.
the new potato and pasta tax because they are high in carbohydrates which can lead to obesity and hence,higher medial costs.
or the coffee tax due to it containing caffeine which can be addictive.
the television/video game tax because it leads to a sedentary lifestyle which can lead to obesity and possibly diabetes.
the porn tax because it leads to masturbation and hinders healthy robust sexual relationships.

these sound silly right?there is no way that could ever happen in real life..right?
open pandora's box and you will be amazed how creative a government can get in regards to taxation and finding ways to finance government projects.
once a government is granted power, it not only uses it but will selfishly defends its ability to KEEP that power.
as citizens we need to think things through thoroughly before we arbitrarily grant power to an entity that can affect many aspects of our lives.what you do in the privacy of your own home,how you spend your money or your free time,what you ingest or view is not anybodies business but your own.as long as you dont harm another.

what people seem to suggesting here is that it is perfectly fine for the government to intervene for FUTURE possible harms to oneself and indirectly on others by way of medical costs.that somehow it is government JOB to take care of any possible present and future harm.that is not governments job nor function,that is YOUR job.
eh../shrugs maybe i am reading it wrong and my rant is for nothing but i am against giving government any more power than is absolutely necessary.