What’s the sound a bottle of soda makes when opened? If you’re the government in Berkeley or Philadelphia, it’s not ssfzzzt but cha-ching. These two towns—bedrocks of meddlesome nanny-state liberalism—now collect steep taxes on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages. The Philly soda-tariff took effect just this year. The early returns there suggest a financial pleasure for the city: The levy raised some $5.7 million in its first month, according to the mayor’s office.
But don’t count on the carbonated goose staying in the egg-laying business. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, supermarkets and distributors have reported a 30 to 50 percent drop in beverage sales. Another estimate, from local blog Billy Penn, was that soft drink consumption dropped by 40 percent in January. That may be good for the fight against avoirdupois in the City of Brotherly Love, but it means lean times for pop producers—Pepsi has announced it will be cutting up to 100 jobs
