(ruling) Class Warfare
Hey Folks -
Anyone who thinks that we are all equal under the law should give this some thought.
Recently the media has been filled with indignant whining about the plan to tax bonuses of derelict millionaire bankers. The argument is that to tax a small unpopular group in response to their misbehavior is not only punitive and confiscatory, but also unconstitutional.
Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth; the crocodile tears over the degradation of our American heritage; the unfairness of picking on a small group who, although unpopular, did nothing illegal.
I was really feeling sorry for these poor chaps until I picked up the paper and read a letter-to-the-editor from a doctor. He said that on April 1, the federal cigarette tax will increase by sixty-two cents and that this increase “should provide one more good reason for Ohioans to quit smoking.”
Well, smoking IS bad for one’s health, and many people find smokers repulsive; but repulsive Wall Street manipulators are bad for economic health too. Hmmm . . .
I guess it depends on who you know or, maybe, whose ox is goring the constitution. Then too, taxing the poor has always been preferable to taxing the powerful – and, according to some, more constitutional.
Have you ever rolled your own cigarettes? Mostly poor people addicted to tobacco roll their own – and twice as many poor people as rich people use tobacco. Poor people go to cheap tobacco stores and buy cheap, loose tobacco and roll their own.
Well, they used to. The recent tax doubled the cost of a roll-your-own bag from around $10.00 to over $20.00, putting it on a par with the standard brands; eliminating the savings. Poor people are up against it: go through withdrawal, skimp on other things, pawn something, or turn to crime.
The Republicans and Democrats who passed this tax justified it by spending the money it raises on uninsured children’s health care. At the same time, the Republicans and a few Democrats thought it unjustifiable to tax greedy, high-salaried Wall Street finaglers’ bonuses.
Whatever you think of tobacco, Wall Street, poor people, or taxes, it’s perfectly clear that here in America, the “Shining City on the Hill,” where “all men are created equal”; we are NOT equal under the law.
Some Americans are more equal than others.
- Uke Man
Anyone who thinks that we are all equal under the law should give this some thought.
Recently the media has been filled with indignant whining about the plan to tax bonuses of derelict millionaire bankers. The argument is that to tax a small unpopular group in response to their misbehavior is not only punitive and confiscatory, but also unconstitutional.
Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth; the crocodile tears over the degradation of our American heritage; the unfairness of picking on a small group who, although unpopular, did nothing illegal.
I was really feeling sorry for these poor chaps until I picked up the paper and read a letter-to-the-editor from a doctor. He said that on April 1, the federal cigarette tax will increase by sixty-two cents and that this increase “should provide one more good reason for Ohioans to quit smoking.”
Well, smoking IS bad for one’s health, and many people find smokers repulsive; but repulsive Wall Street manipulators are bad for economic health too. Hmmm . . .
I guess it depends on who you know or, maybe, whose ox is goring the constitution. Then too, taxing the poor has always been preferable to taxing the powerful – and, according to some, more constitutional.
Have you ever rolled your own cigarettes? Mostly poor people addicted to tobacco roll their own – and twice as many poor people as rich people use tobacco. Poor people go to cheap tobacco stores and buy cheap, loose tobacco and roll their own.
Well, they used to. The recent tax doubled the cost of a roll-your-own bag from around $10.00 to over $20.00, putting it on a par with the standard brands; eliminating the savings. Poor people are up against it: go through withdrawal, skimp on other things, pawn something, or turn to crime.
The Republicans and Democrats who passed this tax justified it by spending the money it raises on uninsured children’s health care. At the same time, the Republicans and a few Democrats thought it unjustifiable to tax greedy, high-salaried Wall Street finaglers’ bonuses.
Whatever you think of tobacco, Wall Street, poor people, or taxes, it’s perfectly clear that here in America, the “Shining City on the Hill,” where “all men are created equal”; we are NOT equal under the law.
Some Americans are more equal than others.
- Uke Man
posted by Ukulele Man at 2:30 PM
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