RightWave

 Higher state tax on beer?

SACRAMENTO - Joe Six-pack will have to pay a lot more to get his buzz on if Assemblyman Jim Beall has his way.

The San Jose Democrat on Thursday proposed raising the beer tax by $1.80 per six-pack, or 30 cents per can or bottle. The current tax is 2 cents per can. That’s an increase of about 1,500 percent.

Beall said the tax would generate $2 billion a year to fund health care services, crime prevention and programs to prevent underage drinking and addiction.

“The people who use alcohol should pay for part of the cost to society, just like we’ve accepted that concept with tobacco,” Beall said.

Well, first of all, I’d quarrel with that characterization of tobacco.  This is yet another stupid tax that is not only bad on principle, but it’s bad in practice.  If you base a revenue source on a tax that is aimed, at least in part, at reducing the sales/use of a product, it’s counterproductive.  This is (one of the) reasons so-called “sin taxes” are such a bad idea.

I hope you’ll join me in drinking a “protest beer” this weekend!

And, for goodness sake, if you live in California…

…you gotta fight for your right to party!