Soda tax? Can't we do better than that?

How much is a soda really worth???  Texas Chitchat is correct in saying that the small tax increase will probably go unnoticed by many of the people that consume sodas. However, if you lobbying this on the basis that it would be a healthier decision for America and an incentive to decrease or stop your consumption all together then shouldn't they "demonize" something that causes more harm than a refreshing Coca-Cola?

Take beer as an example. Are there any nutritional aspects in a bottle of beer? Probably not. I'm certain that the amount of beer consumed on an average weekend in Austin greatly dwarfs those numbers that consumed a soda. "Coke" has been around for a long time and as far as I know there have been zero deaths contributed to the consumption of one. People don't have one to many sodas and go out and kill an innocent family in a horrible car crash.

If we are gonna put a tax on something shouldn't we at least hit the big vices before we go after the little guys. The government raised taxes on cigarettes in an effort to get folks to stop smoking. Why can't the same be done for drinking?