Not only does the Denver Post love nearly every tax increase proposed, today's house editorial tries to give legislators ideas about new streams of revenue. It is entitled, "Colorado needs a new drug (to raise taxes on)."
Maybe our lawmakers, looking for ways to trim $625 million from the budget, should look for other nervous habits to tax. (Stay off the booze, though. Tax collections on liquor were 2.6 percent below forecasts, and besides, those of us in newspapers could use a drink.)
Ice cream maybe? What about coffee?
Chocolate might do it. Heck, a higher tax levied on chocolate just might erase the state's shortfall as we indulge our nervous selves through this recession.
The Post embarrasses itself not only with its grammatical error (the headline should read "Colorado needs a new drug (on which to raise taxes)") but with its salivating over new potential sources of plunder. Of course, ice cream and chocolate are not technically drugs, either, though the nannyists want us to eat less of it, anyway. However, this article misses two important drugs where taxation could form a new governmental revenue stream.
First, with all the movement toward marijuana decriminalization, legalization and taxation of the drug could help plug the budget hole. As for the public safety issues, the state has no problem taxing alcohol which arguably has a far greater harmful potential than marijuana. Plus, there are many higher-income people in the Denver-Boulder area who would gladly purchase this substance legally, thus allowing for a nice payday in revenue.
The second idea is one to which the Denver Post is addicted: government spending. To people in power, taxing people to "spread the wealth" is a popular sport. Perhaps taxing the advocates of higher taxes and the beneficiaries of these pork programs would not increase revenue, but it may bring spending back in line with reality.
by Civil Sense
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