One Guy's Opinion on the Political Scene By: Jim Herndon
Got a Problem? Raise Taxes
I recently referred to a news item that demonstrates the way Democrat politicians solve issues they see as problems: the heavily Democrat Iowa legislature raised the tax on cigarettes a whopping $1 per pack and then proudly announced the decrease in smoking by Iowans.
The poor clueless bureaucrats are oblivious to the reality that Iowans are driving across the border into Missouri to buy their tobacco products, the taxes going into their border state coffers rather than their own. Iowa is not alone when it comes to clueless, disconnected DemPols. California Democrat Representative Jim Beall has proposed raising the beer tax by $1.80 per six-pack or 30 cents per can or bottle, an unbelievable increase of about 1,500 percent. Dan Gordon, of Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, calculated that the tax on a barrel of beer would go from $6.40 to $89. "We would all be looking for jobs," he said. Beall apparently has a habit of coming to the aid of Californians by taking money out of their pockets. He has spearheaded other unrealistic tax hikes on tobacco and other products that he doesn’t like. Not to be outdone in efforts to fleece the taxpayer, California Democrat, Tom Torlakson, has introduced an amendment to make it easy for the Democrat majority legislature to raise taxes by getting rid of that pesky two-thirds vote requirement. When are DemPols going to stop responding all real or imaginary problems by passing more laws and raising taxes? When are they going to get in touch with the public instead of operating on their own biases and taking actions that continually chip away at our freedoms?