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(Sept. 9) -- As he fights a heated battle to get Congress to pass health care reform, President Barack Obama seems warm to another health-related idea: a so-called sin tax on soda and other sugary drinks.
In an interview with Men's Health magazine, Obama called a tax on soda "an idea that we should be exploring."
"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," he said. "Obviously it's not the only factor, but it is a major factor."
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But Obama acknowledged that the tax would be a tough sell politically.
"Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products," he said. "And look, people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that."
In a follow-up story, the New York Daily News asked the White House to elaborate, and officials downplayed the idea. A White House spokesman told the newspaper that Obama hasn't officially proposed the tax, and another administration official said no proposal would be forthcoming.
The Daily News pointed out that a similar proposal in New York went down in flames earlier this year. Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18 percent state tax on soda and other sugary drinks, but he backed off because of strong public opposition.
Yet there does seem to be some public support for taxing soda -- if the revenue would help pay for health care reform. A May posting on The Atlantic's Web site looked at polling data that shows most people would either strongly or somewhat support such a tax if it were tied to paying for health care.
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-op...on-soda/662412
In an interview with Men's Health magazine, Obama called a tax on soda "an idea that we should be exploring."
"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," he said. "Obviously it's not the only factor, but it is a major factor."
Skip over this content
But Obama acknowledged that the tax would be a tough sell politically.
"Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products," he said. "And look, people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that."
In a follow-up story, the New York Daily News asked the White House to elaborate, and officials downplayed the idea. A White House spokesman told the newspaper that Obama hasn't officially proposed the tax, and another administration official said no proposal would be forthcoming.
The Daily News pointed out that a similar proposal in New York went down in flames earlier this year. Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18 percent state tax on soda and other sugary drinks, but he backed off because of strong public opposition.
Yet there does seem to be some public support for taxing soda -- if the revenue would help pay for health care reform. A May posting on The Atlantic's Web site looked at polling data that shows most people would either strongly or somewhat support such a tax if it were tied to paying for health care.
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-op...on-soda/662412
