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Cato Institute, David Boaz, doomberg, Government and Politics, Mayor Bloomberg, mike bloomberg, nanny state, New York City, new york mayor michael bloomberg, politics, power grab, really futile stupid gesture, sweet sugary
[Cato@Liberty]
Posted by David Boaz – May 31, 2012
“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” sang a legendary nanny. But today’s most powerful nanny, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, won’t tolerate that. He plans to ban the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters, and even street carts, the New York Times reports.
Mayor Bloomberg has lots of facts at his fingertips: Many Americans are overweight. Consumption of sugar can cause weight gain. All true, and a good reason for Mike Bloomberg to watch his diet.
But why should he watch MY diet? And the diets of 8 million New Yorkers, most of them adults? If he thinks New Yorkers should consume less sugar, let him hold a press conference. But giving people information isn’t good enough for him. Sometimes he gives people information, and they still don’t act the way he thinks they should. So what’s a billionaire mayor to do? He could bribe them, I suppose. But as Otter said, that could take years and cost millions of lives. Well, millions of dollars anyway. So, like Otter, he’s decided to go with “a really futile and stupid gesture” instead.
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