Obama: Explore soda tax

From the Times Union.com:

In an interview with Men’s Health Magazine, President Barack Obama says that the government ought to explore the idea of taxing soda or other sugary drinks, using essentially the same arguments that Gov. David Paterson used when he was pushing for the soda tax — that soda contributes to obesity.

In the end, the public didn’t like the idea of the tax and Paterson took it off the table early on in the budget process.

Obama also acknowledges the political difficulty of passing such a tax.

From the story:

“I actually think it’s an idea that we should be exploring,” the president says. “There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else. Obviously it’s not the only factor, but it is a major factor.”

But even the most powerful man on the planet needs to keep an eye on what’s politically feasible: “Obviously there is resistance on Capitol Hill to those kinds of sin taxes,” he says. “Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products. And look, people’s attitude is that they don’t necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that. It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people’s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful.”