Posted on 12/17/2002 12:05:43 AM PST by JohnHuang2
It was only a matter of time. And the time is now. Drinkers beware – and I don't mean alcoholics. If you like a bit of wine with dinner, a cold beer on a warm day or a hot toddy on a frigid winter night, you are the target.
Or rather, your wallet is. Given the success with the assault on tobacco, you stand to lose. A lot. Of money, of course. It's always about money, isn't it?
This latest assault is in California but what happens there is a "go" for the rest of the country. So wherever you live, beware.
Democrat State Sen. Gloria Romero has introduced a bill for a "nickel a drink" fee, imposed on wholesalers, on all alcohol sold in the state: 5 cents for each 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, 12 ounces of beer and 4 ounces of wine.
Retailers would decide whether to pass the expense on to consumers! Right ?
Sounds innocuous, doesn't it? It's "just" a fee. After all, she doesn't want the money for frivolous things. The good senator says the money is to help the state's emergency medical system, which admittedly is squeezed financially.
But rather than fix the system, which is bloated, unbalanced and buried under tons of insurance paperwork, her solution is to throw money at it. The estimate is some $500 million a year. Not small change. But consider that right now, 44 percent of the price of beer is taxes!
This "money-toss" isn't new. Romero introduced a similar bill last year, which got nowhere. But now, the financial climate is markedly different. The state faces a deficit expected to exceed $21 billion, not a happy prospect for any politician.
In one of his flailing efforts to staunch the red ink, Gov. Gray Davis proposes cutting $2 billion from state health and human services programs.
But government hates cutting. Too bad they don't focus on fat, of which there is much. Instead they whack at essentials – health services, education, police and fire, transportation.
Gov. Davis knows that. He's no fool. His goal is to slash at essentials to get people incensed and softened so they'll accept new assaults on their hard-earned money.
It's enough to drive you to drink!
So what's a poor elected official to do? Why, come up with "new" sources of income, of course – but avoid calling them "taxes." That's exactly what Sen. Romero has done. Her proposal is not a tax. It's a fee.
It's not a casual word choice. There's a method to her madness. In California, a new tax requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature; a new fee needs only a majority vote. In California's heavily Democrat legislature, it could be a slam-dunk, although Republicans say they'll fight it.
They're not the only ones. Mike Falasco, speaking for the Wine Institute representing 600 wineries in the state, says they'll "do everything in our power to kill this legislation."
Romero's tactic has been used successfully before. Recall the mantra of the anti-tobacco activists. The bottom line of their pitch for all manner of tobacco taxes, fees and surcharges is children. It's all for the children.
They used the same arguments in anti-gun legislation: fees, licenses, taxes and surcharges – it's all tied to children and health.
There's the trial balloon about the dangers of snack foods. Keep an eye on that. Fees proposed in California failed the first time, but they'll be back.
Now, it's alcohol and Romero is back. No surprise. She contends alcohol plays a role in a third of traffic-related injuries so it should help foot the bill. She alleges California's emergency medical system is about to "flat-line and die while the alcohol industry reaps its profits." Whew!
She wants the money from this "fee" to be available to hospital emergency facilities which seek reimbursement only for alcohol-related injuries.
Where have I heard that before? Oh, right. Tobacco money. All those legal settlements and extra state fees were intended only "for the children" until, of course, the government agency in charge decided the loot was needed somewhere else. Then it was hijacked. Tobacco companies and smokers have been so demonized that any attack is justified.
So while you celebrate the Christmas season and toast the New Year, remember that your governments are out to get as much of your money as they can. As long as you let them.
Don't let them.
I'll drink to that.
You NEVER see the politicans propose cutting truly wasteful, redundent, and services the government shouldn't be involved in. They always propose cutting services that they know the people don't want them to cut and wont stand for them being cut.
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