Help Kill the New York Soda Tax

Like something out of a horror film, the New York soda tax that won’t die is once again rearing its ugly head.  It looks like Albany lawmakers are trying to take a few pages from the Obama-Pelosi-Reid playbook to pay for their pet projects with so-called “sin taxes.”  Or maybe it was Governor Patterson’s earlier plan that inspired the federal soda tax plan?  Well, no matter who started it – it’s a bad plan.

Take Action and tell your elected officials they can’t nickel and dime New York taxpayers this way.

Instead of doing the right thing by cutting spending, state lawmakers have proposed this new tax on non-diet soda to fund property tax relief.  What soda has to do with property taxes remains to be seen, but this is a prime example of government efforts to redistribute money and subsidize one favored program or group on the backs of others. 

Governor Paterson and other state legislators have acknowledged that New York state, like many others across the country, is facing a massive budget deficit.  To most households that would mean cutting back, tightening some belts, and spending less.  That’s why it’s hard to understand why Paterson has proposed a budget with $1.4 billion in new spending!  Cash-strapped taxpayers can’t keep footing the bill.

With ever increasing tax hikes on the horizon, many are already fleeing the state.  That doesn’t bode well for New York’s future.  Soon a smaller and smaller group of people will be asked to cough up more and more for the projects state leaders aren’t willing to let go of.  This is clearly an unsustainable course.

Please take action and urge your lawmakers to oppose this soda tax hike once and for all.  Tax hikes stand in the way of New York’s prosperity and only continue to feed the growth of government.  Now is the time to cut spending, waste, and the regulations that stand in the way of long-term growth.