Nanny Alert! The feds are coming after your soda and juice! UPDATE – Now they are coming after your Cheerios! Seriously.

Democrats are growing increasingly desperate for revenue to fund Obama’s promise of health coverage for all Americans. So desperate, in fact, they are considering taxing soda – a proposal which New York Governor David Paterson had to drop after an uproar by New York’s citizens.

The taxes would pay for only a fraction of the cost to expand health-insurance coverage to all Americans and would face strong opposition from the beverage industry. They also could spark a backlash from consumers who would have to pay several cents more for a soft drink.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is set to hear proposals from about a dozen experts about how to pay for the comprehensive health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama wants to enact this year. Early estimates put the cost of the plan at around $1.2 trillion. The administration has so far only earmarked funds for about half of that amount.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

Senior staff members for some Democratic senators at the center of the effort to craft health-care legislation are weighing the idea behind closed doors, Senate aides said.

Wasn’t the big hike in cigarette taxes supposed to fund health care? Oh….right….that was Schip.

Here’s the problem with these proposals: if the nannies have their way, thanks to the tax, Americans will stop using the products in question. If Americans stop using the products in question how is the government going to raise the funds to pay for their promises? Not only will they receive less revenue than projected due to a drop in sales of these products, but the producers of these products will see a decline in sales, thereby reducing their workforce and exacerbating the problem.

These people never learn, do they?

Update: I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

The Food and Drug Administration scolded the makers of Cheerios about the way they promote the cereal’s health benefits. The FDA sent a letter of warning to General Mills accusing them of making unauthorized health claims.