Friday, September 25, 2009

Mild Pet Peeve

I've been seeing these ads against a tax on soda pop. An actress playing a concerned mother tells the audience how hard it is to feed her family, and that we should contact Congress to tell them not to tax juice and soda.

Here's the peeve. Soda is a luxury item. It is not healthy, and a person trying to feed their family with "pennies" would not buy it. They would drink water instead. To argue against this tax from that angle strikes me as utterly stupid.

Not that I think a soda tax is a good idea. I think there are a few million better ways to raise money. But I get really peeved at the idea that soda pop is something that a responsible mom would be buying for her children as a necessity.

If she'd stuck to talking about fruit juice, the ad wouldn't bother me so much... but soda? Totally not needed for a healthy family. Frankly, the ad makes me think that maybe the tax is a good idea after all.