I strongly disagree. First, a quote:
.
'Whenever someone says that this or that government program is absolutely necessary, I always wonder, "What did people do and how did they survive before the program?"' - Economist Walter Williams
.
We've been drinking soda pop for over a hundred and thirty years. Yeah, we got fat kids but there is no justification for blaming it on soda. Or fast food.
.
People who take in more fat or carbohydrates or sugars than they burn off become fat. People who are fat (with some few exceptions) are putting things in their mouths that they know they shouldn't. When babies do this with pennies, buttons, broken glass, dog poop, etc, we take whatever it is out of their mouths as quickly as possible and try as hard as we can to let them know that that was a bad thing to try to eat.
.
We're not babies anymore. We don't need a ten cent spanking from the government every time we open a juice box.
.
The argument that it's only ten cents is completely unconvincing. It is in fact an additional ten cents on top of sales tax, sugar protectionism policies and various taxes on production and distribution.
.
The 'only ten cents' idea is applicable to all things after all. Why shouldn't everything you purchase or use have an additional 'only ten cents' tax on it?
.
Because there is no justification for dropping taxes on legal items to try to force the public not to do something it wants to. That's not government's job. That's YOUR job. You want to self-flagellate every time you eat a twinkie? Go for it. But be responsible for your intake. You're old enough now.