Outlawing versus not subsidizing

The Mayor of New York has sought federal permission to bar food-stamp recipients from using food stamps to buy sugar sodas. Commenters are up in arms, accusing the mayor of trying to impose his will on poor people. While I do not care to have the nanny state micromanage people's lives, I do understand the distinction between outlawing something and simply no longer subsidizing it. That fact that so many commenters do not is alarming.