Dear Mr. President,                                                                                                             June 30th, 2009

I strongly support taxes on soft drinks.  Further, I think that there should be a so-called sin tax on fast foods and all other junk foods, just as there are (and should be) taxes on alcohol and tobacco products.

The revenues from these reasonable and ultimately necessary taxes should go straight to health care costs and to educational programs and preventative measures that promote healthy diets and lifestyle choices.

As you know, people in the United States, and, more startling and urgent, children in this country, are becoming exponentially more obese and unhealthy.

The cutbacks of physical education programs have been disastrous and the allowance and even the promotion of soft drinks and junk foods in schools is egregious at best.  These huge, monied companies specifically target children and pander to them in unconscionable ways. 

The long term consequences of these FACTS can be seen today everywhere and I blame parents for their laziness and general state of being uninformed and uneducated;  I blame the schools that sold their souls to the devils of these junk food empires;  I blame state and federal lawmakers that pass such shortsighted profit-minded legislation; and I also blame the powerful lobby groups that work tirelessly and pay huge sums of money to get their ways.

Please consider taxing these no-good products that have made so many people, including so many children, utterly fat and diseased.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Christina Marlowe