Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks taxation is the way to prevent poor people from doing things they shouldn’t and that’s why he’s been nicknamed ‘Nanny Bloomberg’ by New Yorkers. Nanny Bloomberg believes that poor people can’t make appropriate decisions and need to be directed on how to spend their money.

Since soda is unhealthy, Bloomberg’s idea is to tax it so people will stop buying it. He also believes putting a carbon tax on emissions would be a good idea, which would hit the rural and poor people the most.

Bloomberg spoke about taxing the poor with Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund.

“Some people say, well, taxes are regressive. But in this case, yes they are. That’s the good thing about them because the problem is in people that don’t have a lot of money. And so, higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves. So, I listen to people saying ‘oh we don’t want to tax the poor.’ Well, we want the poor to live longer so that they can get an education and enjoy life. And that’s why you do want to do exactly what a lot of people say you don’t want to do,” said Bloomberg.

“The question is do you want to pander to those people? Or do you want to get them to live longer? There’s just no question. If you raise taxes on full sugary drinks, for example, they will drink less and there’s just no question that full sugar drinks are one of the major contributors to obesity and obesity is one of the major contributors to heart disease and cancer and a variety of other things.”

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According to Forbes, Bloomberg has a net worth of 54 billion dollars