I think you have this all wrong. You are responsible for the grocery tax bill. You nanny state, pro-regressive tax people have brought this shit upon yourselves. I know you can't see that. All your intentions were pure, you're gonna make the world a better place by fucking around with supply and demand and personal preferences. Lots of us don't want you to coddle us for a bunch of reasons. Some of them are because we know single moms who are taking care of five kids and a twelve pack of off brand cola was nice treat for the family twice a week, an affordable desert. Others are small business people who can tell you four different ways that a new sales tax on a small segment of our business is a royal pain in the ass. We don't expect you to understand, we heard that you know whats good for us, thanks for caring so much, enjoy your fucking grocery tax that you so well earned if it passes. Some of us are just plain scared of you. You judge soda now and what tomorrow. it's really none of your business what we choose to do or not do to ourselves. Fuck you for caring so much. I am opposed to the soda tax. We also have a not taxing grocery bill in Oregon this cycle. I voted against it, it's a shitty bill and a shitty underhanded solution to get out of a soda tax. If it passes I'm not blaming Coca Cola...
There are a lot of distortions in Washington State due to the fact that it has no state income tax. That pretty much makes every tax (with the possible exception of property tax, which doesn't apply to anyone who doesn't own property) regressive. 35% of my town's operating budget is sales tax. Another 18% is property tax. 4% is professional licenses and 4% is red light tickets. 36,000 citizens, $131m in the budget. Yeah. We write $5m in red light tickets. We spend $7m on public works.
Am I? Read your original comment. I'm mad about the stupid grocery bill and I'm mad that you think it's your place to try and influence what I choose to consume. I'm just as mad as you but I'm also mad at you. You and those who share your sympathies are the reason this is coming to pass.
Soda didn't really come into its own until the '80s because of the massive grain surpluses of the '70s due to hedgerow-to-hedgerow agricultural policy. Fundamentally, our agricultural system was designed to win the Cold War and the Cold War been won. Everything you're seeing now is an attempt deal with the imbalance.