The Slippery Slope – On Steroids
As I – and many others – have been pointing out for quite some time now, somebody has to pay for all the grandiose Obama agenda. The mirage that Obama has been pushing – that only the rich would pay for all of this spending spree – has already been shattered. By the Obama administration itself. Now the real extent of how much money this will all cost is coming to light – and the draconian taxation – and the authoritative mentality driving the “solution” to the need for money to pay for all of this – that is coming.
Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system.
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.
McQ at QandO notes the same story and is also chilled at the authoritarian drive pushing these tax plans:
Well, here you go:
Health advocates are floating other so-called sin tax proposals and food regulations as part of the government’s health-care overhaul. Mr. Jacobson also plans to propose Tuesday that the government sharply raise taxes on alcohol, move to largely eliminate artificial trans fat from food and move to reduce the sodium content in packaged and restaurant food.
And that’s the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The premise that it is the job of government to modify behavior through taxation (especially if it saves money) has obviously been swallowed whole.
Back to the original point about the myth of the tax cuts for 95% of Americans:
The beverage tax is just one of hundreds of ideas that lawmakers are weighing to finance the health-care plans. They’re expected to narrow the list in coming weeks.
But you can bet that the list won’t be too narrow – someone has got to pay for this. And, with mommy government deciding what you can and can’t eat, you might actually lose some weight. Not because you are necessarily eating healthy food, but because you can’t afford as much anymore. That’s because the one thing you can count on is your wallet will definitely lose weight as this “health care reform” abomination moves forward.
Understand something here: The left is unbelievably authoritarian. It firmly believes it has an absolute right to dictate exactly how each person conducts his or her personal life.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have already bought into this insanity. And they have cooperated in setting the stage for all of this.
So, now they have turned smokers into pariahs to be mercilessly taxed and opened the door to their own merciless taxation for whatever particular habits they enjoy.
There really is no small infringements of personal liberty. The minute one cooperates in the taking away of other people’s rights, they open the door to the removal of their own rights later.
The really stupid thing about the left’s reasoning here – that they have a right to tax behaviors they dislike out of existence – is that eventually, if they succeed, they will have to find another way to fund their mad spending.
Ready to be the next pariah? You will be if you don’t say no to all this real soon.
Because taxes – the real, everyday taxes and costs and fees that everyone – everyone – pays will be skyrocketing in the near future. And this is only the tip of the Obama iceberg that is about to sink this economy.
Appalling, Authoritarians, Left Wing | Gaius May 12, 2009
By martian, May 13, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
If he confiscated virtually all of the wealth of the top 5% of income earners in the country, he still wouldn’t have enough money to fund all of his ‘change’. Yet, he and his worshipers seem to think this money is just going to miraculously appear. The only way that can happen is if he takes a page from his fellow socialist Bobby Mugabe and prints more money – thus causing double digit inflation. It’s going to be a rough ride.