Such is the case with the proposal to tax chocolate milk. You read that right. A tax on chocolate milk.
The Senate Finance Committee is trying to find ways to pay for President Obama's health care reforms, while also discouraging childhood obesity. No problem there. The committee is proposing a federal excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. That's OK, we suppose. Obesity certainly is one of the nation's greatest health problems, if not the greatest. And it's not like it's new for government to tax products that contribute to people's poor health. Politicians don't hesitate to throw a new tax on cigarettes every time they need more revenue, for example. And this tax is no small change. The Congressional Budget Office said a tax of 3 cents for every 12-ounce beverage could raise as much as $50 billion over 10 years.
But including chocolate milk in the list of drinks that are bad for people's health is, well, absurd. Thankfully, two of the nation's major dairy trade groups are bringing the ridiculousness of a chocolate milk tax (and strawberry milk, too, for that matter) to the public light.
"It's both bad nutrition policy and bad tax policy to lump milk in with other beverages," Jerry Kozak, president of the National Milk Producers Federation, told the Journal-Sentinel of Milwaukee. "Kids need more calcium, and flavored milk provides it without adding too many calories."
The International Dairy Foods Association also is fighting the proposal.
The government's own 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans points out that the small amount of sugar added to reduced-fat milk doesn't add excessive calories. Chocolate milk is not contributing to our children's obesity. In fact, it's a much healthier alternative than soda pop or sports drinks.
Rep. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't expect the chocolate milk tax to last long in the proposal. He told a news conference of farm reporters last week that the reason it's included in the proposal now is to "get it shot down early, so that it doesn't become part of the debate."
Hopefully, Grassley's right. Because a tax on chocolate milk is just wrong.