The Triumph of the Elites
By
One of the oddest things about what we’ve been hearing from the Obama administration on health care policy is that it will be paid for through a staggering array of sin taxes. In this case, beverages that make you fat like soda and beer will be taxed to discourage their use and collect revenue. No doubt additional unhealthy pleasures enjoyed by the unkempt masses will be added to the list of products to be taxed before the debate is over. This, according to social planners and health gurus, will make us fitter both physically and financially. Here’s a quote from FreedomWorks describing the tax scheme:
“Specifically, they’re looking at increasing the tax on a bottle of wine by 233 percent. The beer tax would go up 145 percent per six-pack. The liquor tax would go up 19 percent to $2.54 per fifth. And an entirely new tax is proposed for “sugar-sweetened beverages”—including soda, fruit and vegetable dinks, sports drinks, iced teas and coffees, and flavored milk and dairy drinks.
These taxes will almost entirely be paid for by the very people the President promised not to raise taxes on—those earning under $250,000. This would be the second such broken-promise tax hike—the first being the large tax hike on tobacco products earlier this year.”
It’s not just about the tax being regressive in the sense that an across the board sales tax is regressive. This is another instance of Obama siding with the smart, professorial types and liberal yuppies against lower-income, blue collar stakeholders who are socio-economically more likely to enjoy a six-pack of beer after work or a smoke on break as a matter of lifestyle. I was expecting a bit of an upheaval when the administration announced its tobacco product tax or when it proposed federal emissions standards that will help muscle car fans, gear heads, and safety-truckers accept that every new American car should look like the Prius that the liberal yuppie with the degree in marketing drives. Ordinary Joes usually aren’t quick to praise their President for denying or apologizing for their religious beliefs or siding with extreme environmentalists who want to mortgage the nation’s future to fix the elite cause-de-celebre of global warming or guaranteeing the right of their teenage daughters to seek controversial medical “procedures” without parental consent… etc….etc…
I’m not sure it’s going to be tobacco or sugar, but at some point Obama is going to side with elites one too many times and mainstream voters are going to go looking for someone who can represent them with something other than contempt.
