Almond Roca CEO sour on WA plan to tax candy

ladyraven said on March 3, 2010 at 3:48 PM

"The justification is that lots of people's medical bills would be paid for by the companies that cause it... such as candymakers." Jackwong, you are WRONG! The companies that cause food-related health problems are fast food companies. People in this country are lazy and want instant results. They want their food, and they want it now. I like McD's as much as anyone, but I also know all things in moderation. Taxing fast food would be a better place to start taxing unhealthy food. It might force people to start making their lunches again. That, in the long run, will save more money for the person, which I see as a plus. Saving the plebeian a little green allows them to spend more, thus putting money back into the economy. Tax the fast food companies, make people eat there less, help you fellow man loose weight!

jcman said on March 3, 2010 at 11:23 AM

I think there should be a tax on all food where the first ingredient (the largest percentage) is either sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Maybe then people would pay attention to labels and buy food that is better for them and we'd have a healthier population.

scott_bellevue said on March 3, 2010 at 8:13 AM

The problem I have with the Republicans is their social agenda, and the fact that they consistently give tax breaks to big business. The problem I have with the Democrats is their fiscal policy of spend spend spend. The problem I have with both is they no longer listen to the people, but instead cater to special interests. We need to reduce taxes, not increase them. We need to make deep cuts in state spending. We need private sector jobs, not state jobs. We need our politicians to listen to us when we pass laws like I-960. Right now it seems we're in a quagmire we can't get out of all over the nation. We are a nation divided.

fixin2go said on March 3, 2010 at 8:10 AM

I see jackwrongdirection is out trolling again. I can sure see how well these taxes worked out for California...they're looking to close a $20 billion deficit. Having these idiots in office disproves that the majority of WA is very educated. Thanks for f'n things up for everybody!!

kanorhar said on March 3, 2010 at 6:40 AM

You know you can all complain about the taxes rising. It was the voters that put a majority of Democrates into power. The only way you can solve this is to vote out the lame ducks in the Legislature. Remember a majority of you voted for our current Govenor. Are you proud of how she has run our state? I'm not I have never voted for her and I never will. Be pround King County voters for making sure she stays in office because this is what you get more taxes.

jackwong said on March 3, 2010 at 12:43 AM

The legislation is definitely going the right direction with this. Unhealthy food taxes are nothing new, it's been in many California's municipalities for a long time. The justification is that lots of people's medical bills would be paid for by the companies that cause it... such as candymakers. Is that fair? Sounds like it to me... it's like a cigarette tax. And Bottled water hurts the environment, so the tax pays for more environmental projects. This is what we sent the legislation to Olympia to do, and they are doing it.

vessel73 said on March 2, 2010 at 11:59 PM

holy toledo....tax on candy and water??? this only shows me how "out of touch" my government is when they are gonna stick it to who....they think are the healthcare culprits. i mean, really. most people don't realize that...other than children, most people don't indulge in candy. you want to hit somebody in the shorts....tax fast food restaurants. they are the leading contributor to heart disease foodwise that this nation faces. i am a washingtonian, but we have to say enough. this governor has no clue....and i mean really. i wish she would resign, and let j.p. patches mop up. it couldn't be worse for this state...i'm sorry.

emptynestr said on March 2, 2010 at 11:08 PM

This Governor has lost her credibility. She should resign. At least that is MY opinion anyway. I know it won't happen but it should. And what is all these behind closed door sessions of decision making anyway??? Both here and the other Washington. Is this some NEW way of conducting public business?? And the petty idea of taxing candy and water ..phftttt can't she come up with something better than that? Granted the economy is hitting everybody and unfortunately it is showing all the leaks in the ships that are trying to stay afloat. Some are sinking and some are barely staying on top of the water but slowing taking on more and more water until they too can no longer float. Are there no lifelines left? I am not sure there is any fair way to solve the state's problems but like the rest of us maybe the state just has to file for bankruptcy or reorganization when there IS NO MORE money. If we taxpayers have to deal with the pain so must the state.

comptec said on March 2, 2010 at 10:13 PM

Well, we started going to the Indian reservation when I was a kid to get Fireworks. Then as a young adult we went to the Indian reservation for our smokes. Then as an adult, we went to the Indian reservation for our booze. Now it looks like our kids will have to go to the reservation for their candy. I wonder what's next?

anonymoususer said on March 2, 2010 at 7:14 PM

unhappy - you are that way because you are a racist neo nazi / skinhead. racists klike you need to go back to the land of your ancestors and STAY THERE. How do you know peoples' immigration status anyway???

paranoid2 said on March 2, 2010 at 7:13 PM

The bleading heart liberals think we, the tax payer, should support the poor. I say we find out who really is in nead and work to educate them not to breed.

carlconstantine said on March 2, 2010 at 7:12 PM

unhappy - You are absolutely right! It's an absolute SHAME to see how much of our hard earned tax dollars is going to support LAZY Somali immigrants that are on welfare.

anonymoususer said on March 2, 2010 at 7:11 PM

Kill the idiotic viaduct replacement tunnel the people voted NO on and PRESTO - enough $$$ to fund everything (twice) they want to fund - with money left over.

unhappy said on March 2, 2010 at 7:01 PM

its not the state workers payroll that is killing the budget. its were paying for dead beats. I can only amagine how much better our state budget would be if we got rid of all the illegals on welfare and other states services. maybe instead of complaining about state workers pay, you should complain about all the money going to support illegals

cjcampbell said on March 2, 2010 at 7:01 PM

What cuts in state government? If I recall correctly, Governor Gregoire had a list of more than 150 programs that she thought could be cut, but the legislature has actually cut less than 10 of them.

carlconstantine said on March 2, 2010 at 6:49 PM

Washington is one messed up state... They want to tax working class people and businesses in order for DSHS to spend millions of dollars to support Somali families with 8 to 10 kids. TANF & medical benefits are driving our state budget in the ground. Liberal family advocate groups think that they are doing something good by bringing refugees into King County and placing them on welfare. Truth be told, Somali's already screwed their own country up with ignorant battles over Islamic beliefs and now Muslims are doing the same thing in the US because they are too lazy to work. Muslim Housing Services and Southwest Youth and Family Services is KILLING our state budget. Jewish Family Services is doing a great deal of good in our state while Muslims only make it worse. Tax the working class in order to feed lazy dead-beats. Way to go Washington...

helga said on March 2, 2010 at 6:03 PM

But wait, wait, wait! Have we heard from Aplets and Cotlets?

bazwest said on March 2, 2010 at 5:31 PM

Until our state government acts to shrink our state government by reducing state payrolls, it will be unable to control rising costs. The spending of our state government has increased by 31% over the last 4 years under the guidance of the Olympia democrats including our illustrious governor. A hefty amount of this spending has come from trying to fund the pensions and benefits and wage increases of state employees (112,546 of them). Since Gregoire took office in 2005 the she has added 5777 FTE employees. This may not sound like a lot, but the average state workers earns $47,077. These additional workers are paid roughly $272 million per year before benefits. Just last year alone after we were well into the recession the Governor added 1126 new state FTE employees at a cost of about $53 Million. This is all new spending. The governor and our democratic state legislature are like kids running around in a money store. These jobs do not include k-12 teachers.

rmo70 said on March 2, 2010 at 3:29 PM

There was a total of 9 cents added to our gas tax for extra road work and lanes. Why is this again on the table, as far as putting a charge on HOT lanes? I thought this to be taken care of by the additional extra lane expenditures to be included in the 9-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase that our wonderful state legislators went over our heads to institute, and once again alledgedly tied to our Governor from what I've read in the past. And...if our legislators are looking to a tax on our children, what better way to tax Candy?.. And bottled water? Some people have to rely on this, as their wells don't support a drinkable solution! Isn't water somewhat a basic necessity? How absurd to tax water!,.. but then again, why not curb spending and look at getting our state out of the liquor sales business at an estimated $300 million a year savings, and other options available to our state government like going back to core government! Big deficit trouble ahead!

fellowtraveller said on March 2, 2010 at 2:08 PM

This proposal was not only heard today but passed out of committee on a party-line vote. The deliberations by the committee, as is the strong trend in recent years, were behind closed doors, in a committee "caucus". This is a relatively new development and one that veteran political writer Peter Callaghan of the News Tribune rightly deplores in his columns. No, we're not talking about sinister acts here but what a secret caucus permits is the appearance of solidarity when the participants emerge and vote, not letting the public understand any misgivings or permitting the public to second guess any of their assumptions or correct misinformation. Hey, this is the Great Northwest. Who needs "sunshine"?