In the first success of its nature for "nanny state" advocates after many years of trying, Philadelphia became the first major city to attempt to control the non-alcoholic drink choices of its residents by enacting a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax June 16 on soda, tea, sports and energy drinks. This is expected to embolden nanny state tax advocates across the United States.
The tax, like others on food and food-related items, will fall disproportionately on lower income individuals.
"The only good thing about Philadelphia's newly-imposed soda tax is that proponents were somewhat honest about it, admitting it wasn't about improving public health. Instead, they admitted it was a money grab, albeit a highly regressive one," said Jeff Stier, the National Center for Public Policy Research's director of risk analysis.
Source: www.nationalcenter.org