Caffeine Tax
Let’s tax all Caffeine products 10% and then use that money to pay for junior colleges across the USA. Consumers as a whole spend literally millions of dollars per day on caffeinated sodas, coffee products, tea, and chocolate. If we taxed that just 10% and invested that money into junior colleges, our economy would benefit tremendously. The reason why we should put the money into junior colleges is because they are the bottleneck in the education system. People of all ages use junior colleges either to prepare for a 4 year university, get training necessary for the general workforce, vocational training, enrichment, or other reasons. But I know from experience that even the most popular and well funded junior colleges are experiencing massive cutbacks in both teacher salaries, and class availability. If the USA pumped money into the junior college system there would be several benefits.
First of all, when people are in school they are usually busy with school, and don’t have as much free time to get themselves into trouble. By augmenting junior colleges, creating new scholarships and greater class availability, America would be increasing opportunities for people. A glimmer of hope can go a long way for an otherwise idle person.
Second of all, there are less jobs. And the jobs that do exist either require more skills, more education, or more experience. Junior college can at least help with the skills and education parts.
The painful part of this idea would be paying 10% more for soda or coffee. As a caffeine drinker myself I share in your suffering. But the reality is, if I am willing to fill up my Starbucks card with $50 every month or so, then I have some money. That money may or may not be disposable income…but I sure am spending it like it is. So I might as well invest in my own country’s best interest. And that’s really what I’m talking about. Investing in the best thing for our own country right now. And are teachers overpaid? …maybe, I don’t know. Is there tons of democracy in the junior college education system, and will most of the money generated by a caffeine tax gets abused or wasted or worse? …probably, but just because our education system is flawed doesn’t mean that we should let it turn to skin and bones.
Why allocate the caffeine tax to junior colleges instead of something else, like paying back the national debt, or unemployment benefits? The reason why the money should go to junior colleges is because the USA will see direct short term and long term results by doing so. The short term affects would be, increased employment at the junior colleges, and most-likely decreased crime in areas with idle people. The long term affects would be a more specialized and qualified work-force.
Now I know I may be setting overidon.com up to get some hate-mail from angry readers who don’t want to pay more for their coffee. So to facilitate this, HERE’s a LINK TO OUR CONTACT PAGE.
The interesting thing about this is that I’m not sure exactly how to market the tax. Would this be a sin tax? I don’t think caffeine is really a sin so I don’t think that would be the best was to get the public to gulp down a 10% hike in the price of their java. The best way I can think of presenting the tax would be to say that caffeine is a proven drug that can cause sleep and/or anxiety disorders and therefore a portion of the money generated from such drug should be redistributed into an important part of our society, education.
I seriously doubt Starbucks or any other coffee company would mind the tax. Since the money would be going to junior colleges, they could put on the cups next to the “YOU” mission statement thing, that by buying Starbucks, “YOU…would be educating the future of America!” Case closed. Drink coffee and teach America. It’s got a ring to it huh?
-Tyler