When Gov. David Paterson proposed a cent-per ounce soda tax in his executive budget, it was designed to help the state plug a yawning budget gap and deter a rising obesity epidemic.
But, like all things Albany, the proposal is being used by legislators to snipe at one another, as on Friday, when at a meeting of the Senate Health Committee, State Sen. Marty Golden turned to his Democratic counterpart Tom Duane, who supports the measure, and called him fat.
Yes, fat.
“I have a lot of respect for Tom. I made a passing joke about somebody looking at our bodies and us having difficulty with the weight,” Golden explained later in an interview. “How he came to the Senate, and he was svelte—we called him ‘Greek god,’ and then the stress got to him and he put the weight on. Now he’s losing it again, and I’m happy for him.”
The remark stunned the health experts and advocates who were on hand to back the soda tax. Representing the other side in the crowded committee room were PepsiCo and bodega owners, and Golden, who positioned himself as a champion for the self-described “average Americans.” He invoked the founding fathers in his fight to permit Americans drink as much soda as they see fit.
“I can tell you, when my son gets home from school, he’s going to get a can of soda,” said Golden in a heated moment, refuting the testimony of state Health Commissioner Richard Daines and city Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. “And he’s going to get one tomorrow, and the day after that.”
Golden explained that a tax would send people to New Jersey to buy their soda. But more importantly, he said, it flies in the face of American democracy, where people have to make tough decisions about raising their families. His own son, he said, was chubby at 12, 13 and 14, but Golden took him to the gym and taught him how to work out. Now, at 18, he said later, his son is a 6’4”, 200-pound athlete.
“I don’t know of any teenager who's going to be happy that you said he was a little pudgy when you were 12 or 13,” Golden admitted. “But he's happy because of his accomplishments. I’m proud of him, he’s proud of me… that’s what family’s all about.”
A health advocate who later took the floor said the saddest thing she had heard all day was to listen to Golden proudly announcing that buying three cases of soda per week did not constitute “an abuse of soda.”
Meanwhile, the debate goes on. At the hearing, State Sen. Kemp Hannon said there needs to be a big awareness campaign about the dangers of sugar before New Yorkers will accept the tax. Daines said the extra cent per ounce was just a way of building invisible health costs into the price of the product, and received the only round of applause. Golden, when not on the defensive, argued that the tax was a cash grab masquerading as health policy, and would go into the general fund.
Duane took the personal attacks lightly, explaining to Golden that he just wanted to help out him and the rest of the Golden family. If they were going to start trading fat jokes, Duane said, he would feel free to return the favor.
Golden, who served with Duane for years in the City Council before joining him in the State Senate, quickly backed off.
“I don’t think you have many flaws at all,” he said to Duane, as the crowd laughed awkwardly. “I think you’re a man of great—expertise.”
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