It seems like nothing makes a liberal more happy and excited than using the coercive powers of government to modify human behavior. Never mind that our Republic was founded on the notions of individual liberty and personal freedom… Democrats in Sacramento are constantly passing bills (hundreds of them each year) that place restrictions, impose fees, provide incentives – all geared towards shifting decision-making away from the individual, and over to the collective – in this case state government.
This election cycle, liberal Democrat Mike Davis of Los Angeles has introduced a classic case of what I call “social engineering” legislation. His bill, AB 2829 would mandate that every large grocery store or pharmacy charge a 25 cent tax on every plastic bag issued to a customer. Davis doesn’t hide his motive – he wants people to stop using plastic bags, and he is going to try to use the coercive power of the government to achieve his goal.
Of course, even though it would smack each shopper with substantial increased costs, this legislation is not called a “tax increase” but rather is labeled as a fee. For those who don’t know it, one of the most significant and disturbing ways that state government is growing is a “loophole” that allows a tax to be passed by a majority (instead of a 2/3 vote) of the legislature if the proceeds from the tax have a nexus back to the tax itself (for an example, you could pass a tax on waffles with a majority vote if the funds went to establish some sort of state waffle-eating safety program).
**There is more – click the link**
April 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am
There you go again, Jon, right off the rails. Like I wrote in the last post you did on this subject, you simply need to reject both paper AND plastic. Knit your own grocery bag and put it in your back pocket the next time you visit a Whole Foods market. After you have selected your vittles, whip it out (your home knitted grocer bag) and tell the clerk “Fill er up” and off you go. Green and happy.