Bloomberg Wants to Ban Big Drinks from Big Apple

New York Mayor Bloomberg keeps taking his jihad against sodas and sugary beverages to new levels. "New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity," The New York Times reports.


(Photo: New York Times)

"The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March."

The Times also quotes The People's Mayor as saying, “Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the United States, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, ‘Oh, this is terrible,’ ... New York City is not about wringing your hands; it’s about doing something,” he said. “I think that’s what the public wants the mayor to do.” Or, as King Louis XIV would put it, "L'État, c'est moi."

"OK, and in what universe is this even remotely acceptable political behavior?" tweets Commentary editor and NY Post columnist John Podhoretz. I guess in the same universe where the city can regulate salt shakers and arrest a woman for trying to compliantly turn in her licensed firearm before entering the 9/11 Memorial.

(P.S. Wouldn't banning large sodas somewhat defeat the purpose of taxing them?)

UPDATE: Mika's Cup o' Poison
In the clip below, Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski perfectly illustrates snobbish, clueless hypocrisy by drinking a large Starbucks drink right after praising Mayor Bloomberg's proposed sugary-drink ban.



The unspoken liberal assumption is that regulations like these are intended to keep poor fat people from drinking sodas and slurpees, not to keep well-off, educated types from sipping their coffee drinks.

UPDATE: Bloomberg defends the ban by saying, “We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re simply forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one cup to another cup.” Yeah, and somebody needs to force him to understand that he's supposed to be a mayor, not a diet coach.