You Can Have My Twinkie When You Pry It From My Cold Dead Hands…

…or Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog. Or can of soda pop.

Earlier this week, I editorialized in favor of legalizing and taxing various "vices."

Writing at The American's blog, Nick Schulz observes and reports:

There's a sin tax movement underway for legal activities, too. Rev. Robert Sirico ("Hate the Sin, Tax the Sinner?") looks at the recent proposals to find revenues through federal taxes on sodas and fatty foods, finding this not just economically objectionable but morally suspect as well.

Whatever economic or social benefits one can dream up from the sin tax, we must also realize that the decision to tax must be weighed against the social benefits for reducing the behavior by slow and deliberate persuasion and voluntary action. When it comes to public policy, the preferred method of discouraging sin should fall under the category of alternative, mediating institutions, notably family, church, and school.

Amen to moral suasion, whether we're talking about "sin" or any other sort of behavior. More here.