Thread by @meepbobeep

Before there was Taxing Tuesday on STUMP there was Soda Tax Stupidity!

Here is the first appearance of the Cook County soda tax on the blog: 25 July 2017
stump.marypat.org/article/785/il…

"Since this is Illinois, they couldn’t pass a simple soda tax without screwing it all up"

the Cook County soda tax, alas, was dead by December 2017.

In the meantime, I had a lot of fun with this idiotic tax.

I often ran those posts on Fridays, just due to their sheer stupidity (and wanting a good laugh for the weekend)

Let's look back at the short-lived soda tax!

The soda tax got a slow start, with me just dumping it w/ all my other "let's beat up on Chicago and Illinois!" stuff

stump.marypat.org/article/789/fr…

I didn't realize just how stupid the tax was, initially. Originally, I thought there were simply some operational issues, and issues in conflict with SNAP, etc.

Then it began to dawn...

"The sugary drink tax is huge — given these prices, it’s a ~36% tax."

Toni Preckwinkle was the person pushing for it, and responsible for the many stupidities which attended it

I'm willing to bet it was the soda tax, more than anything else, that killed Preckwinkle's bid for Chicago mayor

By August 9, 2017, I had a very good idea how bad the Cook County soda tax was

stump.marypat.org/article/795/co…

- higher-caloric beer was cheaper than soda in Cook County
- A stupid lawsuit (no comment)
- some retailers stopped selling soda due to SNAP issues

By August 13, 2017, the Cook County commissioners were considering killing the soda tax (now that's a short-lived tax)

stump.marypat.org/article/799/co…

I looked at the Philadelphia soda tax... which was underwhelming in results

"it’s about taxing an item they think is ubiquitous and thus will get them loads of $$.
....
Reminds me of the tax on tea, long long ago. The Brits thought that Americans couldn’t give up their tea."

stump.marypat.org/article/799/co…

So, they’re desperate for money … and they want people to drink less soda, which would mean less soda tax revenue.

It’s not quite consistent there. We’ve seen this with cigarette taxes, too."

Taxes can reduce consumption, yes... if so, don't use to fund non-related stuff

For the month of August.... it kept going
stump.marypat.org/article/802/co…

1. What is it? Is this to increase tax revenue or cut down soda consumption? What if nobody drinks sugary soda? What then?
2. I think you’ll find it’s more small retailers than BIG SODA that is more pissed off

Did you know it's @MikeBloomberg 's birthday today?

This is not irrelevant to this thread, as he butted in the Cook County soda tax saga back in August 2017

stump.marypat.org/article/803/co…

Have you given up soda taxes, Bloomberg?

@MikeBloomberg "What I find so funny about this is that Bloomberg couldn’t get a soda tax passed in NY, when he was New York City mayor. Oh, he’s helped get soda taxes passed. But it doesn’t seem any of these taxes are that popular."

@MikeBloomberg Bloomberg had an ad to support soda taxes back in August 2017

stump.marypat.org/article/804/co…

[Unfortunately, I don't remember what the response ad was.]

Needless to say, Bloomberg's ads didn't help keep the soda tax alive.

@MikeBloomberg 'If your defense is “BUT FAT CHILDREN”, then why not juice? It’s worse than soda in terms of calories and sugar.'

'Admit that it’s only about the money. People might not hate you quite so much. People hate being lied to.'

[I don't think he's learned the lesson yet]

@MikeBloomberg 20 Aug 2017: Sunday Dumpery: Yes, It's The Soda Tax - What's It To You? stump.marypat.org/article/806/su…

"Man, it’s like I’m addicted or something. Maybe they really should implement a soda-tax-blogging tax."

@MikeBloomberg 23 Aug 2017:
Cook County Soda Tax: My Relief (and announcement)

stump.marypat.org/article/808/co…

(after I found out about Stu's cancer)

@MikeBloomberg I had a few dumps after that, without much commentary

stump.marypat.org/article/809/su… [this one has a fractal spreadsheet]

stump.marypat.org/article/811/mo…

stump.marypat.org/article/813/so…

stump.marypat.org/article/814/co…

This is really what drove the creation of Taxing Tuesday later.

@MikeBloomberg September 11, 2017 - I have more on @MikeBloomberg

stump.marypat.org/article/817/so…

"According to this story, they were hoping for $200 million in one fiscal year. So I guess Bloomberg doesn’t have enough money to fill that hole."

um, $200 million, you say?

@MikeBloomberg Of course, it's one thing to fund a presidential campaign, and another to give Cook County enough money to fill one year's worth of budget deficit.

The first is a lot easier, apparently.

@MikeBloomberg more on @MikeBloomberg and his soda tax:
stump.marypat.org/article/822/so…

"I am just fine with Bloomberg being played for a fool, especially since money he wastes on promoting soda taxes is money not wasted on idiotic gun control laws."

@MikeBloomberg illinoispolicy.org/daily-comics/b…

Eric Allie cartoon from October 2017.

The soda tax would be dead by December 2017

@MikeBloomberg I'm not linking to all the soda tax posts, as many I was amassing links & news, trying to make sure I get the stuff out there before it was all moot.

Because everybody could see the end coming.

stump.marypat.org/article/836/so…

stump.marypat.org/article/838/so…

@MikeBloomberg October 10, 2017: the end of an era

stump.marypat.org/article/840/so…

to be sure, the tax wasn't entirely dead until December 2017

stump.marypat.org/article/869/po…

@MikeBloomberg from July 25 to Oct 16, 2017 I got 22 posts out of the Cook County soda tax

That's pretty good blog-fodder.

It was something so politically stupid that even Illinois Democrats had to wake up and kill it.

RIP, Cook County soda tax. You were good to me.

stump.marypat.org/article/869/po…

@MikeBloomberg @threadreaderapp unroll