Penny-pincher plight

Most of us have heard about the soda tax that Philadelphia’s Mayor Michael Nutter wants to enforce. The $0.02 per ounce tax would be applied to soda and all sweetened drinks, which includes energy drinks and chocolate milk. He proposed this tax early in March. More than a month and a half later people are still buzzing about the tax.

Let me just say, it is outrageous that people are freaking out about this tax. Two cents isn’t going to hurt anyone’s pocket. If you can afford to drink something other than water, then you can afford to pay two extra cents for it.

People call the tax in Philadelphia unjust, but the city is struggling financially, and it needs something to help the financial deficiency. The tax will help relieve some of that debt.

The city has a high crime rate and a school district that needs help. People are scared to come out of their homes due to latest Flash Mobs. Are people really complaining about $0.02?

Some say the people that live in the city cannot afford the tax. Well, they have the option to not purchase those drinks.

What people don’t realize is that there are a lot of people who come in to the city to work. These people are from the surrounding upper class suburbs and have their offices or businesses in the city. A tax certainly wouldn’t put a pinch in their pockets.

Another thing: soda seems to attract the youth of Philadelphia. People that do not have a child in the School District of Philadelphia don’t understand its lack of available nutritious food.

When I was growing up, I didn’t have a class in school to teach me nutrition values. Just like any normal kid, when I went home I went to get whatever was refreshing to me. Growing up in the city, I was taught to feed my body and quench my thirst, not that the effects of soda were harmful. I didn’t hear the word diabetes until I was in high school.

Sweet beverages are clearly popular in the city. When an item is flying off the shelves, what do the markets do? They raise the price and people keep buying them.

Nutter’s idea is brilliant. He recognizes the popularity and demand of sweetened drinks, and he is raising the price of a popular product to generate money for the city. His city needs him to step up financially and he is doing just that.

Last but not least, people have to remember that you don’t have to drink soda. There is a natural recourse called water that is not taxed. If people hate the tax so much, they shouldn’t complain about how the city is in such an economic mess. This tax is trying to help the economy. In times like these, helping the economy is the main goal. And this tax certainly won’t hurt it.