Freedom Line Blog

Sales of regular soft drinks have declined by almost 10% during the past decade according to Beverage Digest, but since when are facts an impediment to Barack Obama’s smug foolishness?

In a recent interview with Men’s Health Magazine, Obama conveniently scapegoats soft drinks, saying that a soda tax is “an idea that we should be exploring.”  He added, incorrectly, that “there’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else.”

Except that there’s not.  In a devastating commentary today, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent notes that sales of regular soda have actually declined, as has consumption of added sugar as a percentage of daily calories, even as obesity rates increased.  He shows that America’s increasing obesity is actually attributable to declines in exercise, as well as to increased fat and flour/cereal consumption.  Facts, however, are small hurdles for Obama in his campaign to dictate every aspect of our lives and tax us in every conceivable way.