Cook Co. pols show their many faces

Thanks to Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison for the sensible analysis of the beverage tax passed by the county board on Nov. 10.

According to recent Cook County health statistics, 8.5 percent of residents suffer from adult diabetes and 25 percent suffer from adult obesity. With a population roughly figured at 5.2 million people, that is a large number of "unhealthy" people living in Cook County suffering from these afflictions alone.

Yet, Ms. Preckwinkle, who incidentally introduced the bill, was pained to cast the deciding vote on this issue because it was necessary for the health of her constituents. By her own estimation, over 900,000 SNAP recipients reside in Cook County, and, presumably many suffer from diabetes and obesity. Yet, she supported a bill to exclude SNAP recipients, who by law, pay no taxes on their purchases, from this egregious tax. This tax should be charged at the distribution level, as it is in Philadelphia, and paid by all, if it is to have any benefit in reducing the consumption of sugared drinks by the population.

One can readily see that the only thing Ms. Preckwinkle is truly interested in protecting is her pension, which is most likely still underfunded, even with the recent addition to the Cook County sales tax which she also sponsored.

I do not live in Cook County nor do I drink soda, so this really has no direct effect on me … it's just the humorous way politicians present things from their "many faces."

Wayne Kinzler

St. Charles