Taxachusetts at it Again

[KMAN]

Patrick proposes $2 'carbon fee' for Logan parking - The Boston Globe

 

[FactFinder]

Any excuse will do.

 

[Sunni Man]

Governor Deval Patrick = "Obama lite"

 

[Care4all]

maine's adding $2.00 a pak cigarette tax, to pay health care of kids... geez louise! Don't they realize they are taxing primarily the poor and lower middle class people to pay for this....

while denying those smokers any help with their own healthcare when they get sick with breathing problems or lung cancer some where down the road?

just doesn't make any sense to me....???? And i don't even smoke!!!

 

[WillowTree]

maine's adding $2.00 a pak cigarette tax, to pay health care of kids... geez louise! Don't they realize they are taxing primarily the poor and lower middle class people to pay for this....

while denying those smokers any help with their own healthcare when they get sick with breathing problems or lung cancer some where down the road?

just doesn't make any sense to me....???? And i don't even smoke!!!

you got to be kidding us! "tax and spend liberals" is an honestly earned moniker!

 

[Skull Pilot]

Patrick proposes $2 'carbon fee' for Logan parking - The Boston Globe

Only a dope like devolve Patrick would impose a carbon tax on a parked car.

 

[Care4all]

There is no tax on cigarettes in NH, these people will just make trips there, if they are within 75 miles of the border, imo.... though the state is trying to make it illegal to buy your cigaretts in another state, which is absolutely ridiculous as well.... they will end up taking in less in taxes imho.

Smokers are definitely discriminated against in this state...in more ways than one, imho.

 

[Goodfella]

Dumb sin taxes.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Dumb sin taxes.

you are very correct.

Revenue generation schemes based on behavior modification are doomed to fail.

The government, in it's never ending quest for more and more of the money of citizens, concocts various ways to liberate your money from you. the best way to do this is to convince the masses that the government is actually taking your money for your own good, your own protection.

Hence the evolution of sin taxes. Alcohol and tobacco are deemed bad for citizens and since the government needs money to fight the ills these substances bring upon society, a tax is levied not only to raise money but to curb the public appetite for these unhealthy substances.

And these taxes do have an effect on behavior. As behaviors change we find the revenue from sin taxes decreasing over time. Now most would herald this as a positive result, but not the government. You see, even though we were told these sin taxes were meant to fund government programs to make us healthier such as smoking cessation and health care, when need for these programs diminishes because the public is indeed healthier for having reduced consumption of what was deemed unhealthy, the government's need for money for these programs that are less necessary actually increases.

So we move to a new tax scheme, the food tax. Now the government must deem that more substances are unhealthy and thereby levies new taxes to raise revenue and decrease the consumption of these newly discovered unhealthy substances. But the new substances are even more widely used and therefore more lucrative. Beverages with sugar, chocolate, certain oils and of course sodium are all next on the list.

If we follow the tax on food and beverages to their logical conclusion, sooner or later the government will find a way to tax age old food staples such as fruits and vegetables and other foodstuffs. After all, eggs have cholesterol, meats have fats, apples and grapes are loaded with sugars. And all these things are bad for you.

Hydrocarbon fuels are deemed bad for the planet and thereby bad for people. So a tax is levied. This tax will be one of the most insidious. Energy costs will rise perhaps even doubling or tripling. And we will modify our behavior accordingly. We will use less electricity and read by L.E.D. lights and turn our thermostats down and find alternate ways to stay warm or cool. We will drive less and comply with all the government mandated green behaviors. the carbon tax will eventually cost more to collect than the revenue it produces but will that end the government's need for more money? Eventually there will be a tax on the very technologies the carbon tax was supposed to promote.

Then what? We adapt yet again and we read by candle light and watch TV on our I pods recharged with solar cells or we run on treadmills to recharge battery banks in our homes. We reduce consumption even more but the government is still addicted to revenue. It is the never ending quest by the government to levy the perfect tax. One that will produce revenue that increases over time no matter what behavior we choose to modify.

What will the perfect tax be? How about a government implanted heart monitor? Every person will pay for each beat of his heart from birth until death.

Perfect.