President Obama has said that he "will not rest until the dream of healthcare reform is achieved in the United States of America."¹ For Obama, reform means offering government health insurance to roughly 46 million uninsured Americans, expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals and families, and conferring sundry other benefits and handouts. These items do not come cheaply; a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the cost to the government at more than one trillion dollars over the next ten years.

So who will pay for all of this, and how? One idea presented to the Senate Finance Committee is to introduce a federal excise tax on sugary beverages. Yes, under this proposal, Congress would institute a "soda tax."

The proposed tax would apply to sugary beverages such as soda, sports drinks, certain fruit drinks, and ready-to-drink teas. Most diet beverages would be exempt. According to the CBO, the tax would cost consumers about $0.03 per 12-ounce serving (possibly more), raising an estimated $24 to $51 billion dollars in revenue for the government over the next four years.^2,3

Supporters of the proposal argue that the tax is necessary to combat the rise in obesity-related healthcare expenditures. Soda consumption increases costs, and under a government plan, costs are borne by "society." Therefore, consumers should be taxed.

That's their argument. But if you are waiting for a rational reason why everyone has to finance everybody else's health insurance through the government, don't hold your breath. The politics of collectivism has no rational basis. It takes for granted that men are cells of a larger organism; that they are bound to each other, and should not be free to make their own choices as individuals—and bear the consequences individually.

Ayn Rand expounds:

"The moral and social ideal preached by everybody today (and by the conservatives louder than all) is the ideal of collectivism. Men are told that man exists only in order to serve others; that the 'common good' is man's only proper aim in life and his sole justification for existence; that man is his brother's keeper; that everybody owes everybody a living; that everybody is responsible for everybody's welfare; and that the poor are the primary concern of society, its holy shrine, the god whom all must serve."⁴

The soda tax is not the start of some new slippery slope. We started down this road long ago with similar sin taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, cigars, and other products that lead to "socially undesirable behaviors." The more goodies we ask government to provide, the more control we grant to federal officials over our lives. What proponents of the soda tax—and fans of government health insurance in general—fail to see is that nobody wins under a dictatorship, and least of all responsible individuals.

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¹ Young, J. "Obama 'will not rest' until healthcare reformed" The Hill, May 11 2009

² Adamy, J. "Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care" Wall Street Journal, May 12 2009

³ Murray, S. "Congress Considers Beverage 'Sugar Tax' to Pay for Health Care" Washington Post, July 10 2009

⁴ The Letters of Ayn Rand. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged Years (1945-1959)

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