Soft Drink Tax/Cheerios is a Drug

A couple of interesting things in the news today:

A watchdog group in Washington which has taken it upon itself to monitor what we, the People eat and drink is pushing Congress to impose a sin tax on many bottled beverages.  The targeted beverages include sodas, some juice drinks, energy drinks, and other stuff which the group says contributes to obesity and obesity related health problems.  These health problems, they say, drive up the cost of healthcare and, they say, the tax will help defray the costs of our government's new healthcare scam and will decrease consumption of the evil drinks.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/nyregion/17sugartax.html

The FDA is insisting that Cheerios  is a drug because General Mills advertises the cereal as a way  to reduce cholesterol.  

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/05/13/fool-blog-call-me-a-raging-drug-addict.aspx

  

Has our government lost it's ever-loving mind?  The Taliban is putting itself in a position to seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons, Iran is developing its own nuclear weapons and is threatening Israel, and domestic unemployment is nearing double digits.  But somehow our all-powerful federal government has time to tax soda-pop and regulating Cheerios.   Geez!

How did we get to this point at which the Washington bureaucrats are involved in our lives to the level of directly influencing what food we choose to put put into our mouths?  Is there any aspect of our lives over which these people don't desire control?  Is there no decision they trust us members of the great unwashed to make for ourselves?  

Oh, and I finally found the text of the cap and trade bill:  

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1862

That website is a great resource, by the way.  

Well, it's late and I have to work tomorrow.  Afterall, somebody's got to pay for all this stuff.

DW