[FRIAM] Santa Fe's Sugar Tax

Wed Apr 26 14:43:00 EDT 2017

I think Sugar is the new Tobacco on many fronts...  it WILL fall 
(somewhat), albeit slowly.  And we will be able to get it without the 
tax on the Reservation from a drive-through window?

Meanwhile I need to start a fresh batch of Kombucha and if the *only* 
reliable source of sugar is (as recommended) pure, refined, white sugar, 
then I'll pay the tax (or ask my RMJ seeking friends to pick some 
bootleg white cane sugar up at a dispensary on the Colorado border).

Or maybe I need to understand better why I can't get good results from 
less refined sugars or (OMG!) Honey.   Or move on back to probiotics 
based on things I can grow myself (saurkraut, kimchee, kefir, etc.)?

I don't like (Gub'Mint) regulation on principle but it might actually be 
a reductio-ad-absurdum argument against any/all of our myriad "well laid 
plans" brought to us by industry and commerce?

A favorite duality:  "A conspiracy theory, or just a good business plan?"

Neo-Retro-Techno-Luddite,

  - Steve

On 4/26/17 12:31 PM, Tom Johnson wrote:
> I'm wondering this morning, if the nation seems to have accepted the 
> fact that the federal government can regulate vehicle mileage, 
> //require seat belt installation, testing of drugs for public 
> consumption, etc., how come it can't regulate sugar (and sodium?) in 
> food and drink?  Could it be the sugar lobby is stronger than car 
> manufactures and Big Pharma?
>
> TJ
>
>
> ============================================
> Tom Johnson
> Institute for Analytic Journalism --     Santa Fe, NM USA
> 505.577.6482(c)           505.473.9646(h)
> Society of Professional Journalists <http://www.spj.org>
> *Check out It's The People's Data 
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> http://www.jtjohnson.com <http://www.jtjohnson.com/> tom at jtjohnson.com 
> <mailto:tom at jtjohnson.com>
> ============================================
>
> On Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 12:02 PM, George Duncan <gtduncan at gmail.com 
> <mailto:gtduncan at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Much as I agree with Tom's analysis and wish for a better process
>     for public policy decision making (hey that was my career at
>     Carnegie Mellon!), the issue here for our own voting is whether we
>     better off if this initiative passes. I vote yes. Indeed I have
>     already voted yes.
>
>     Also I cannot believe that a win for no will convince people
>     towards quality decision making...but rather that major corporate
>     money must win in the public arena.
>
>     On Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 11:42 AM glen ☣ <gepropella at gmail.com
>     <mailto:gepropella at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>         We have a lot of data on whether sin taxes do or don't work. 
>         And that data is colored/interpreted by everyone who sees it,
>         like all data.
>
>         And that brings me to my problem with Tom's argument.  We can
>         focus on this part:
>
>           "Voting on the measure is also a vote for or against good
>         social science research, good public policy and
>         administration, and full transparency of the people’s data."
>
>         We've been over and over in several threads (that I'm sure
>         seemed hijacked by the more linear amongst us) about
>         _induction_ and the validity or soundness of the predicates it
>         leads to.  Way back when I worked at a healthcare informatics
>         company, "evidence-based" was all the rage.  Then a (small)
>         group of debunkers finally realized and advocated a move from
>         the concept of "evidence-based" to "science-based"
>         (https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/about-science-based-medicine/
>         <https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/about-science-based-medicine/>).
>         Add to that that many of my colleagues in the social sciences
>         tout evidence-based or science-based policy.
>
>         I have some very deep reservations against such, with the same
>         _flavor_ as my objection to the idea that government
>         should/can be run like a business.  (Part of the rhetoric in
>         favor of Trump.)  Government is not, inherently, a scientific
>         enterprise.  It's an _engineering_ enterprise.  And engineers
>         don't really care about reality as it is.  They care about
>         reality as they intend it to be.  Sure, good engineers take
>         the intitial conditions into account.  But whether the initial
>         conditions have us on earth or mars doesn't matter that much. 
>         What matters is that we want to _go_ to Proxima Centauri.
>
>         So, while I agree with the letter of the sentence above, I may
>         disagree with the implication.
>
>         FWIW, were I still in Santa Fe, I'd vote "yes".
>
>         On 04/26/2017 09:57 AM, Gillian Densmore wrote:
>         > I agree anecdotally residents of NM need help with education
>         and health.
>         > I am skeptical a tax on basically fake food,s and treats is
>         a helpful way
>         > to do that though.
>         > Postive programs and tools  might help more than yet another
>         tax possibly
>         > can.
>
>
>         --
>         ☣ glen
>
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>     Emeritus Professor of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University
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>
>
>       "Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come
>       later. It may then be a valuable delusion."
>
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>
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