Sunday, August 28, 2016

Berkeley’s Soda Tax is Upper-Class War on Poor



Berkeley’s Soda Tax is Upper-Class War on Poor
by Chriss W. Street 27 Aug 2016Newport Beach, CA
Although Berkeley, California claims its “soda tax” cuts unhealthy purchases by 21 percent, it mostly taxes the poor and exempts the high-sugared coffee treats that the upper-class crave.

The pioneering 2014 law led to elitists in Mexico, England, and France pushing through taxes on sugar-laden soda beverages; while Philadelphia became the second city in the United States to pass a soda tax in June. Similar ordinances are now on the November ballots in the three Northern California cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Albany.

According to a new University of California study published in the American Journal of Public Health less than three months before the local Bay Area elections, Berkeley’s penny-per-ounce tax levy on sugary soda drinks is being hailed a major public health success in reducing sugar drinks that cause high rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Opposition to a “soda tax” normally focuses on the discriminatory nature of singling out one sugared item in the grocery cart as the culprit for bad health. But the more insidious issue is that soda taxes are specifically discriminatory by economic class.

Elite upper-class UC professors would vocally shame a soda guzzlers carrying a 64 ounce Mountain Dew Arctic Burst, but they are mum when it comes to their own Starbucks Venti Caramel Brulée Frappuccino, packed with 520 calories. Furthermore, large sugary coffee drinks contain about 50 percent of an adult’s daily recommended allowance of saturated fat.

According to one New York City poll, only 11.2 percent of those living in the elite upscale Chelsea or Greenwich Village and just 18.4 percent of adults in the tony Upper East and West Sides popped a soda a day. That was far below the poor neighborhoods of Brooklyn’s Flatbush, where 45.7 percent popped a soda each day and the South Bronx, where 45.5 percent of residents are daily soda drinkers.

But if the study would have included sugared coffee drinks, the percentage of elites that imbibe sugared drinks would have been much more similar. There are 2,000 Starbucks locations in New York City, with the vast majority in upscale communities. For the low sugared soda drinkers of Chelsea, Greenwich Village and Upper East and West Sides, there is a Starbucks every two blocks on average, plus plenty of coffee competitors.

Furthermore, national canned soda sales have been in a decade-long decline, dropping another 1.2 percent in 2015, according to Beverage Digest. But sugary “ready-to-drink” canned coffee drinks jumped by 19 percent in 2015. Canned coffee beverages volume grew by 48.1 percent over the last five years, from 50.6 million to 89.7 million gallons.

None of the nations or the cities that have passed or have on the ballot a “Starbucks Tax” on frothy sugared coffee concoctions, because it would be wildly unpopular to tax the same upper-class politicians and elites that tend to push “nanny state” laws.

John Cawley, professor of public policy and economics at Cornell University, is suspicious that the UC Berkeley study may be flawed because retailers absorbed 30-50 percent of the tax.

Cawley agreed that “when prices go up, people buy less,” due to the law of demand. “But this is a very large decrease.” He added sarcastically, “It will be interesting, as more information comes in, whether this finding holds up.”

Soda
Coca-Cola Company was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Committee for Economic Development.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, Jonathan Soros’s father, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and Gavin Newsom was a guest at his 2013 wedding reception.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Roosevelt Institute, and the Committee for Economic Development.   
PepsiCo, Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
David B. Weinberg is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a director at the Coca-Cola Company.
Ernesto Zedillo is an international advisory board member for the Coca-Cola Company, and was the president of Mexico.
Janet A. Howard was a VP for the Coca-Cola Company, is a governor at the Roosevelt Institute, and a director at the French-American Foundation.
Jonathan Soros is a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and George Soros’s son.
Donald F. McHenry was a director at the Coca-Cola Company, and is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
James D. Robinson III was a director at the Coca-Cola Company, and is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Mary N. Dillon was an EVP for the Coca-Cola Company, a division president for PepsiCo, Inc., and is a director at the Starbucks Corporation.
Craig E. Weatherup was the president of PepsiCo, Inc., and is a director at the Starbucks Corporation.
Larry D. Thompson is an EVP of governmental affairs, general counsel & secretary for PepsiCo, Inc., and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Sheryl K. Sandberg was a director at the Starbucks Corporation, and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
David H. Romer was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
University of California, Berkeley is a University of California campus.
Haas School of Business is a business school at the University of California, Berkeley.
Richard C. Blum is a regent at the University of California, a board member at the Haas School of Business, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), married to Dianne Feinstein, and a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Douglas E. Goldman is a board member at the Haas School of Business, and was a medical director of emergency services for San Francisco (CA).
Coca-Cola Company was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
PepsiCo, Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Dianne Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum, a California congressional delegation senator, and was the mayor of San Francisco (CA).
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz is the chief protocol officer for San Francisco (CA), a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California, and married to George P. Shultz.
Lata Krishnan Shah is a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Coca-Cola Company was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
PepsiCo, Inc. was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
George P. Shultz is married to Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, and was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Larry D. Thompson is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and an EVP of governmental affairs, general counsel & secretary for PepsiCo, Inc.
G. Richard Thoman is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a director at the French-American Foundation.
Douglas M. Price is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a director at the French-American Foundation.
Janet A. Howard is a director at the French-American Foundation, a governor at the Roosevelt Institute, and was a VP for the Coca-Cola Company.
Jonathan Soros is a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and George Soros’s son.
Charles E.M. Kolb is a director at the French-American Foundation, and the president of the Committee for Economic Development.
Stuart E. Eizenstat was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is an international advisory board member for the Coca-Cola Company.
Carolyn S. Chin was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is a member of the Belizean Grove.
Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.   
Julie Daum is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Henrietta Holsman Fore is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Davia B. Temin is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Mary Agnes Wilderotter is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Maryles Casto is a member of the Belizean Grove, and a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California.
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz is a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California, married to George P. Shultz, and the chief protocol officer for San Francisco (CA).
George P. Shultz is married to Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, and was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Gavin Newsom was the mayor of San Francisco (CA), an invited to George Soros’s 2013 wedding reception, and is the lieutenant governor for the California state government.
Jerry Brown is the governor for the California state government, and Kathleen L. Brown’s brother.
Kathleen L. Brown was the California state government treasurer, is Jerry Brown’s sister, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.           
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Richard M. Daley is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a director at the Coca-Cola Company.
Mellody L. Hobson is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a director at the Starbucks Corporation.
Byron D. Trott is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a friend of Warren E. Buffett.
Warren E. Buffett is a friend of Byron D. Trott, Howard G. Buffett’s father, the chairman & CEO for Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and was a director at the Coca-Cola Company.
Howard G. Buffett is Warren E. Buffett’s son, a director at the Coca-Cola Company, and a director at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Ronald L. Olson is a director at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
George P. Shultz was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and is married to Charlotte Mailliard Shultz.
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz is married to George P. Shultz, a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California, and the chief protocol officer for San Francisco (CA).
Maryles Casto is a governor for the Commonwealth Club of California, and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

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