Health researchers: Soda tax could cut obesity, raise funds for health care reform

As noted in this US News (HealthNet) story, researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine argue that an excise tax on sugary drinks would combat obesity and raise revenue for health care reform. But critics say that consumption would not significantly decrease under new tax rules. I'd like to add as a side note, that some research indicates that the artificial sweeteners in diet soda drinks make many people hungrier, resulting in increased calorie consumption relative to people who don't consume such drinks. So does this mean that all soda is bad? 

For consumers, the tax they suggest would increase the cost of a 20-ounce soft drink by 15 to 20 percent and lead to a minimum reduction of 20 calories a day per person from sweetened beverages. The revenue collected would benefit individual states and the federal government. "There are certain products which make a strong contribution to the obesity epidemic while, conversely, there is no plausible public health benefit [from them]," noted Dr. David Ludwig, senior author of the paper and associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.