Even More Taxes?

Even More Taxes? was Originally Posted on January 23, 2013 by

My last blog entry talked about the Democrats wanting to raise more taxes.

Guess what is happening in Hawaii?

From our local news, I’ll just post part of the item and let you decide if it is just another tax to raise money (which is what taxes do).


HONOLULU —Four Hawaii senators are proposing a statewide tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

The Democratic senators say that the consumption of sugary drinks contributes to obesity. Hawaii ranks second-to-last for adult obesity compared to other states.

The senators want to charge 1 cent per teaspoon of sugar in each drink and use the revenue to fund community health centers and help trauma victims. They say the tax would translate to about 10 cents per 12-ounce soda.

Hawaii already pays very high taxes (no sales tax but a general excise tax that charges every retail sale over and over). Also almost every item we consume comes from off island and we pay dearly to ship things. Your $5 Subway sub is like $7 here.

Rather than try to find a way to encourage people to consume less sugar, tax people then use that extra money to fund yet another program.

Is this yet another tax on the lower and middle class? You know the upper class drinks Perrier and Peligrino, right?

Also, they won’t just stop at soda because that would be stupid. Most “fruit juice” contains sugar and what about doughnuts filled with crisco and sugar filling, or meringue, or cereals?

I understand that a cranberry juice cocktail contains 33 grams of sugar in an 8oz drink.

Kellogs Sugar Smacks is 56% sugar by dry weight.

Granted, most people don’t eat Sugar Smacks as often as they drink soda, but those that do will get obese a lot faster than drinking soda.

Many sodas have been cutting back on sugar and using alternatives, but the public doesn’t seem to be jumping on the bandwagon very fast.