Regarding the proposed tax on soft drinks with sugar: I agree that childhood obesity is a concern and our society needs to take measures to address this concern, which certainly leads to poor health. Measures such as education along with parental guidance and discipline are what I envision as the answer, not taxation.

In capitalist systems, government taxes goods and services to generate revenue to run state affairs, not to persuade the general public to shy away from products that may not be good for them. The appropriate way to safeguard the public from dangerous goods is to outlaw them.Taxing products with the intent to slow sales of them is absurd. Winter coats are taxed; does this mean the government is trying to tell us not to buy them and to freeze?