Posted by
Optimus Magnus on Monday, April 13, 2009 1:55:36 AM
Not that I want to give any ideas to the spendaholics in Washington, but I couldn't help but wonder about that the other day. We've just seen a $0.62 hike in the amount of tax on a pack of cigarettes. According to the studies quoted by talk-radio anchors, most smokers are in the lower income echelons. Didn't Obama categorically promise that the lower-income folks in this country would not see a tax increase of any kind? "Well, no one is being forced to smoke," say the libs. This argument is an end run around the fact that the majority of smokers are lower-income Americans who have just witnessed Obama break a campaign promise by raising the taxes on their smokes. Why?
As readers know, I support the FairTax. More broadly, I support taxes which cover the entire income spectrum (yes, including the world's richest poor). So, why go after cigarettes when you can make a lot more money by taxing caffeinated drinks? It is easy to target a minority. On a per-hit basis, it would be relatively painless; say, five cents a pop (pun intended). True, not everyone consumes the same amount of caffeine per day, but (I speculate) it's one of the few fixes people love whose consumption largely bears no correlation to their income; plus, the vast majority of us consume caffeine in one form or another, be it coffee, soda, or chocolate (not to mention some pain relievers). Ergo, in raw dollars, it would be one of the fairest taxes on the books, as it would take largely the same amount of money from each person affected. Sure, percentage-wise, the lower incomes would be more affected, to which I say
, "No one is being forced to consume caffeine." The majority of us who consume caffeine, though, would NOT go for a hike of the same magnitude as we've just seen on tobacco. As for the hike in tobacco taxes, it's easy to tolerate something when it's happening to
someone else.
Excuse me, but didn't this nation start out largely due to a tax revolt? As American citizens, we have a responsibility to take time out to look at government in general and see how our money is being spent. Any and all increases in taxes must be scrutinized. We must learn to treat the begging politicians like the deadbeat family members they are. When they come asking for more money (like they inevitably do), it is important to ask not only why they want more money, but what did they do with the money we've already given them? We must embrace the concept that while some taxes begin as targeted taxes, they do not stay that way. We have the duty to hold our reps' feet to the fire and force them to justify all votes to increase taxes. Still better, perhaps any and all tax increases should be voted by public referendum. Leave the power to reduce (or better, repeal) in the reps' hands. In this manner, only the truly necessary ones would pass. Let the career politicos earn their re-election by showing us what taxes they were able to reduce/repeal.