Tax THIS!

Governments everywhere are getting ready to tax soda pop. They call it a “sin tax,” as in a tax on something SINFUL. Now, I’ve always been of the opinion that cigarettes are fair game for taxation to the highest degree. I think the government should be able to slap a tax of anything they want, like 20 bucks, on a pack of smokes, because clearly they are deadly and awful. I’ve always thought the government should legalize drugs, too, and tax the crap out of them as well. Instantly erase that debt. But now that governments are pondering taxing soda, I’m questioning my opinion. I rarely drink soda, so I really wouldn’t care if they taxed it, but my gut reaction was, hm…I don’t LIKE that. I mean I hate that my country is full of fatties and would love to do anything to stop them from getting fatter and breeding more fatties. And I get that soda really packs on pounds (hence my not drinking it often). But STILL, two issues: If soda is bad for you, why not make it illegal? And, who gets to decide what’s REALLY bad and what’s mildly bad and where the tax line gets drawn? I’m pretty sure US Magazine is really bad for us. Why not tax the crap out of gossip magazines, then? I’m confident Miley Cyrus is REALLY bad for us. Why not grossly tax her concerts and crappy merchandise? I don’t know, it just seems like a soda tax is so arbitrary. On the one hand, I love it, because I’m sick of everyone being so FAT in this country. And I’d like to see our government raise some bucks without it affecting me terribly. But if they institute a soda tax, who’s to say they won’t tax something that WILL affect me next? And again, why ISN’T weed legal? Wait, what? Oh…sorry. Anyway. Let’s have some fun with this weirdo potential legislation, eh? If you were to impose a sin tax, what would YOURS be? Let’s talk about that this week.