Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

King heps us to an outrageous DFL proposal to Put A 10 Cent Tax On Every Drink At Bars:

A bill moving through the legislature would add a 10 cent tax to every drink at bars in Minnesota. A dime a drink would raise tens of millions of dollars that would pump money into law enforcement including catching drunk drivers.

Supporters of the drink tax say it is not really a tax, it's more of a user fee. Chemical dependency experts say only 10 percent of drinkers are responsible for 60 percent of alcohol-related problems.

The author of the bill says most drinkers won't even notice the tax.

"The impact here is very, very small. On the individual drink. Very, very small. Probably a stick of gum. You can't even buy a piece of candy for what we are talking about here," said Rep. Karen Clark, a Democrat from Minneapolis.

Talk about death by a thousand cuts.

If the tougher DWI laws and smoking bans haven't already driven enough small bar owners out business, this should be yet another nail in the coffin. Nice to see the DFL looking out for the little guy yet again.

I also thought the Dems were in favor of a progressive tax code. It doesn't get much more regressive than this. If this nonsense passes, Joe Six Pack will take another direct hit in the pocketbook.

By the way, this once highlights the incalculable harm brought about by T-Paw's little semantic stunt of calling the 75 cent per pack tax on smokes a fee. Republicans should know by now that Democrats will always see and raise them in these matters and that any proposal to add revenue or increase spending to address a specific situation will be cited by Dems for years to come as an excuse to tax and spend at will.