We live Comrade!! We Live!!! Stinkin' Capitalist pigs we'll tax your coffee than your tea...Heh, Heh, Heh
Posted on 06/01/2002 4:05:20 PM PDT by ppaul
It's a tax that could hit Seattleites where it really hurts: their coffee mugs.
A group of child-care advocates, seeking more money for early education, filed an initiative Friday that would place a 10-cent city tax on Seattle's lifeblood -- espresso drinks.
But in Seattle, where voters have already voted to tax their tobacco, their meals and their hotel rooms, among other things, initial word of the proposal caused barely a jolt among the area's latte lovers.
"Coffee, in a way, it's kind of a luxury item," said Patty Grazini, who frequents the Diva Espresso Bar in Seattle's Greenwood district. "As long as the money went to the programs it was supposed to, I would support it."
The Early Learning and Care Committee, which is made up of parents, teachers and child-care directors, expects the tax would raise $7 million to $10 million a year in this coffee-addicted city.
The money would be used to increase wages for child-care teachers, assist low- and middle-income families in obtaining quality child care and increase the amount of high-quality care in Seattle, said Lisa Moy, campaign manager.
The committee has until early August to collect the necessary 17,228 valid signatures needed to get the initiative on November's ballot.
But Diva Espresso barista Melissa Petersen wasn't so sure the initiative was such a good idea.
Another 10 cents is a lot to ask for a drink that's already pretty expensive and can cost $3 to $4, she said.
"They've got a smoking tax, regular taxes, why not a yuppie tax," Petersen said sarcastically.
Grazini, 50, averages about two cappuccinos a day and has no problem flipping the bistro an extra dime or two. The tax would bring the cost of her daily caffeine dosage to about $4.20, or an additional $73 a year. A person that has one drink each workday would pay an extra $26.
Moy said taxing espresso drinks is a guaranteed source of income in Seattle, where many residents can't get through the day without a caffeine hit.
Drip coffee would not be taxed and espresso seemed the most obvious choice that would not burden any particular economic group, Moy said.
"We know that the city of Seattle voters are dedicated to their children," Moy said. "This is one way they can enable children more access to quality pre-kindergarten care."
Since the tax would apply to businesses that gross more than $50,000 annually, Moy said Starbucks and Tully's Coffee -- Seattle's main coffee contenders -- were told of the group's plan.
In a prepared statement, Starbucks said the company did not understand why the group "would recommend an additional consumer tax on espresso beverages, or any other single consumer product, to fund this initiative."
Company spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff would not comment further.
The increase would do little to effect business at Diva Espresso's four locations in Seattle, said manager Stephen Johnson.
"Regular customers would initially notice, but they would adapt to it very readily," Johnson said. "I think coffee's a pretty strong drug.
Read the article and FReep the poll HERE.
We ought to use their own tactics against their own industries. Hollywood glorifies violence so therefore we need to tax movies to fund emergency rooms. Television reruns encourage sloth so therefore any program with Meathead in it needs to have a tax to fund neighborhood playgrounds. Marxist professors encourage rebellion which results in death, so therefore we need to tax their salaries to fund the widows and orphans of communist aggression.
If you think the goverment is going to give any of this so called free tax money to small church preschools then you do not live in the real world.
TA"s Wife
TA's Wife
Well, I want less government in my life too. I think taxes are way too high, and I think this tax is foolish. I also think the socialists in Seattle will probably vote for it, the same way they gave us those two pinheads Murray and Cantwell. But I wasn't referring to the tax. I was referring to the busy body, know it all comments about what people pay for coffee. For instance, I find it much more cost effective to make my own bullets and arrows instead of paying retail for them. I am also shocked at what some people pay for makeup, or cars or sports tickets, or clothing, or haircuts. But, the difference is, I'm not so snotty and presumptuous as to call them "dumb" for how they choose to spend their money.
We live Comrade!! We Live!!! Stinkin' Capitalist pigs we'll tax your coffee than your tea...Heh, Heh, Heh
Undoubtedly. It is, increasingly, the way of things. I wish I could remember where I saw the statistics regarding the percentage of voters who pay taxes.
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