Bloomberg Loses Soda Ban Appeal

I'm going to celebrate with a Big Gulp:

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – It looks like supersized sugary drinks in New York City are staying on the menu.

In a unanimous opinion, an appeals court upheld a lower court’s decision Tuesday, saying the Board of Health’s plan to put a 16-ounce limit on sugary drinks was an illegal overreach of executive power.
The four-judge panel of the state Supreme Court Appellate Division said the Board of Health was acting too much like a legislative body when it created the ban and said it didn’t believe sugary drinks were “inherently harmful.”

...

The judges also said the board appeared to have created much of the new rules on political or economic considerations, rather than health concerns.

Bloomberg said he planned to appeal the appeal and, if that didn't work, buy off legislators with his PAC money.

Okay, I made up the last part about buying off legislators with his PAC money, but since that's what he's been doing on the gun control and education reform issues, there's no reason to think he won't try to do the same with the soda ban nonsense.

But for now, he has lost on this issue.

And now, on to my Big Gulp - although I prefer club soda to anything else...

Bloomberg's Soda Ban May Have Increased Soda Consumption

So says a new study:

Psychologists at the University of California, San Diego, wanted to see how much soda people would buy when drink choices were restricted to reflect a ban on larger sizes.

They presented a group of 100 male and female undergraduates with sample menus for venues such as ballparks, movie theaters and fast-food restaurants and asked them to tick off the food and drink items they would choose.

Some of the menus offered a traditional sampling of 16, 24 and 32 ounce drinks priced at $1.59, $1.79 and $1.99, respectively.

Others offered a choice of a 16 ounce drink for $1.59, a "bundle" of two 12 ounce drinks for $1.79, and a bundle of two 16 ounce drinks for $1.99. A third menu type offered only 16 ounce drinks for $1.59.

Participants bought more soda from the "bundle" menu than the traditional menu — about 3 more ounces on average — and about 12 more ounces than from the one-size menu.

The fictitional business owners also reaped more revenue from the bundle scenario than from either of the others.

"Even with the restriction, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron has said that 'those who want to drink more will still be able to go ahead and have two,'" researchers wrote, referring to comments on Mayor Bloomberg's proposed ban on drinks over 16 ounces, which was struck down by a judge in March. "Our study shows that when larger drink sizes are offered as bundles, people are very likely to go ahead and do just that."

Though the study doesn't measure how much soda individuals actually drink in the various menu setups — only what they say they would buy — the results take some of the fizz out of policy makers' aim to fight obesity by slashing drink sizes, said lead study author Brent Wilson, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at UC San Diego.

I wonder if this kind of scenario occurred to Nanny Bloomberg?

 

Had the soda ban gone into effect, it could have potentially increased soda consumption and revenue for both business owners and the soda industry.

Bloomberg Intends To Push Soda Ban Through Even If Someone Else Is Mayor

The Little Dictator just cannot take no for an answer:

The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, vowed on Tuesday to continue his fight for a controversial ban on large sugary drinks after he leaves office, in a tacit admission that he will not be able to resurrect his signature health measure before a successor takes over.

After a state judge struck down the measure the day before it was due to come into force, Bloomberg called on the leading mayoral candidates to get behind it. But the ban appeared to be in tatters on Tuesday: any appeal is likely to outlast Bloomberg's mayoralty and the front-runners to succeed him have declared their opposition to the restrictions.

Speaking at a cafe in midtown Manhattan which has decided to voluntarily implement the suggested regulations, the mayor admitted his staffers "don't know" how long an appeal will take.
...

When the Guardian asked if Bloomberg could see the soda ban being something he continues pushing for after leaving office, the mayor replied: "You can take it to the bank."

"Yes, what I'm going to try to do is the same thing I've been doing. I want to leave this world a better place for my kids and for their kids, and shame on me if I don't," he said.

Long after Bloomberg leaves his City Hall bullpen for the last time, we will be dealing with his policies via his "philanthropy".

Gun control, education reform, health concerns - the mayor has more money than God and because of that, he knows what's best for all of us, all over this country.

Scary, but true: we live in an oligarchy where a little self-centered, arrogant ass like this can promote his policies with millions until her gets what he wants.

Bloomberg Soda Ban Struck Down In Court

This news will make Mayor Bloomberg very, very sad:

A state judge on Monday blocked the Bloomberg administration's citywide ban on large sugary drinks.

The measure, slated to take effect Tuesday, would have prevented restaurants, theaters, sports stadiums, and any place that receives a letter grade from the city's Health Department from selling sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.

 In his decision, State Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling said the ban is "unconstitutional and in violation of the separation of powers."

He went on to say the measure is "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences", noting that it applies to some but not all food establishments and excludes some drinks that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar and calories on suspect grounds.
 

 In a statement, the city law department said it plans to appeal the decision, adding, "This measure is part of the City’s multi-pronged effort to combat the growing obesity epidemic, which takes the lives of more than 5,000 New Yorkers every year, and we believe the Board of Health has the legal authority – and responsibility – to tackle its leading causes."

City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley also released a statement that said the decision threatens the health of New Yorkers.

"Without a portion cap on sugary drinks, it would be harder to tackle an obesity epidemic that kills more New Yorkers than anything other than smoking and causes misery for many thousands more who suffer from heart disease, diabetes and other debilitating illnesses," Farley's statement read. "Sugary drinks are a leading cause of this epidemic. Today’s decision threatens the health of New Yorkers, but we are confident that we will win on appeal.”

Monday's ruling sides with members of several beverage and shop owners' groups who had argued the ban would place an unfair burden on small businesses.

In a statement, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association said, "The court ruling provides a sigh of relief to New Yorkers and thousands of small businesses in New York City that would have been harmed by this arbitrary and unpopular ban. With this ruling behind us, we look forward to collaborating with city leaders on solutions that will have a meaningful and lasting impact on the people of New York City."

Unconstitutional.

Fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences.

A violation of the separation of powers.

Sounds like history of Bloomberg's reign of error - especially this third (illegal) term.