Don’t Tax Sugar; Stop Taking Bribes!

Dear politicians, stop trying to legislate morality.  You’re not qualified.

Health study after health study tells us that sugary drinks are one of the primary causes of childhood obesity.  There is no refuting this fact.  Recently, one study came out and suggested the only way to stop children from consuming so many sugary beverages is to put a tax on them so their parents can no longer afford them?
Would it work?  Most likely.  Is it right?  Not even close, in fact it is criminal.  For the record I am against virtually all taxes.  I’m tired of having people steal money from me to fund something I have no input over.  Besides, the problem is a lot more complex than “sugary drinks are too cheap.”

First off, the phrase “sugary drinks” is not at all accurate.  If soft drinks were sweetened with actual sugar there likely wouldn’t be an obesity epidemic in this country.  They are sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), a man-made sweetener developed by the chemical company Monsanto.  It is a chemical that is far more dangerous than alcohol or marijuana could ever hope to be.

So why is it legal?  One word: bribery lobbying.  Monsanto and their ilk throw enough money at our government to cure the budget deficit.  Why do they spend so much money on bribery lobbying?  Because they know their products are lethal.  Our politicians know these products are lethal too but they, whether Democrat or Republican, do not care.  Politicians only care about power and money.

From the lowliest mayor in the tiniest town all the way to the top our politicians are crooked.  They would gladly trade the lives of our children for a few extra green backs.  In fact they do it everyday.

So, politicians,  if you want soft drinks to cost more do not tax us for your transgressions.  How about paying the $7.5 billion in this year’s budget set aside for farm subsidies to the farmers they are intended for.  Currently this money only goes to farmers who produce untested genetically modified foods for big multi-national agricultural corporations.  In other words farm subsidies do not go to farmers, they go to Monsanto.
In effect what companies like Monsanto are doing is money laundering.  They take the $7.5 billion the US government gives them out of our paychecks and they hand it right back to individual politicians in the form of campaign contributions or bribes lobbyist gifts.  The politicians pocket that $7.5 billion.

So instead of strapping the American people with yet another tax how about canning the Monsanto moles the President has appointed to run the USDA and FDA (Tom Vilsak, Michael Taylor, Roger Beachy, et al).  Oh and maybe follow legitimate scientists recommendations of banning GM foods like HFCS at least until their effects have been studied.  Do this and soft drink manufacturers will have to go back to sweetening their beverages with actual sugar, while though still not great, it is far better than HFCS.  Not only will the price of soft drinks go up but child obesity go down.