Coalition Fights Food Taxes

President Barack Obama has promised that health care reform will be deficit-neutral.A coalition of trade groups,businesses,unions and other organizations,as well as individuals,have banded together to resist proposed new taxes on food and beverages to partially fund the reform.In an open letter to the U.S. Congress,the coalition said they support the reform,but new taxes on food and beverages,especially those that single out a single product such as juice and soda,have no place in it.Such taxes,they say,will only burden working families already struggling in the trying economy.They will not make people healthier,teach children healthier lifestyles or change anyone's behavior.Only education and support for physical activity programs will do that.
Among those signing the letter were the National Taxpayers Union,the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,the League of United Latin American Citizens,the American Beverage Association,the National Retail Federation,Teamsters Local Union 812(New York,NY),the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association and the Wisconsin Grocers Association.The coalition,known as Americans Against Food Taxes,consists of nearly 400 groups,businesses and organizations,plus 60,000 individuals.