My least favorite reason for legalizing marijuana is the taxation argument, which was one of the primary arguments used by proponents of the ballot initiative that legalized marijuana in Colorado*.
Many of those that advocate de-criminalizing marijuana at the federal level, myself included, lean libertarian, but finding more things to tax is not a libertarian value.
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The Jetsons foreshadowed the fleecing of America by the Jane Jetsons of our time in Washington, D.C. Click on the image to see how it works.
The United States has a long history of taxing vice under the theory that taxation is a punitive measure designed to discourage consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and it works to some degree. Is this not then true of taxation in general? Taxation discourages consumption and investment, and when applied too freely by a state that cannot control its own spending, it is a drag on the economy.
This is a concept the left apparently doesn’t want to grasp. In fact, the left often characterizes tax hikes as a way of punishing the rich simply for being rich so their money can supposedly be used to help the poor. What we find instead is that most of the money generated through additional taxation is wasted.
Isn’t about time that we told those jackasses in the Beltway that it’s our money and demand that they spend it wisely? Why should hard-working citizens who manage their budgets responsibly continue to support the wasteful and corrupt cronyism that’s rampant in Washington, D.C.? Is it any wonder that the richest counties in the United States almost all surround the national and state capitols? Where is all the money that flows into the Beltway counties coming from? Your wallet, maybe?
Our money is certainly being redistributed, but it appears the bulk of that redistribution is going toward maintaining the lifestyles of a growing cadre of administrators. Spending on education, for instance, has skyrocketed while student performance has flatlined. Where is all that money going? Let’s just say that teachers comprise only about 50 percent of all school personnel, a percentage that has shrunk while spending has expanded.
Much of our money is being used to keep mostly worthless administrators fat and happy, but that’s the natural progression of the administrative state. America’s government- and union-run educational system encapsulates the attitude of those employed by the state when their patrons in D.C. fight tooth and nail against real reform.
Every time you vote for a Democrat you help ensure the expansion of an increasingly bureaucratic and centralized government that becomes less accountable and less open to positive change and reform. Democrats are neither liberal nor progressive; they are extreme conservatives dedicated to maintaining the status quo of failing programs and enriching those within the system and the politically connected. It’s no wonder that Democrats are almost always in favor of tax hikes, and drool over the potential for additional revenue streams through taxation. More money means more power and the ability to control the individual to the ends of the powerful.
So what does all of this have to do with taxing marijuana? Everything. I don’t care to provide the government with any additional sources of revenue until it can prove it is spending my money responsibly.
I’m not against taxing marijuana, but by making it one of the main arguments for its legalization we’re conditioning people to think that it’s okay to tax anything and everything. Moreover, we’re also ensuring that if and when they do tax it, they’ll tax it punitively with sky-high tax rates.
It’s high time, pun intended, for American citizens to say enough is enough and to tell the government in no uncertain terms that it needs to live within its means. The “news” media and political pundits tend to concentrate on the federal income tax, generally ignoring the day-to-day taxes that stone us to death with popcorn. Is it not enough that they’re already taxing necessities like Doritos and Visine?
The old and tired saw from various conservative pundits is that about half of Americans don’t pay federal income tax. They have a point, to a point, but the truth is that even those not paying federal income tax are still being taxed quite a bit, and they’re likely being taxed disproportionately.
It would actually be a lot more efficient and equitable if we got rid of the income tax altogether and taxed consumption across the board with a national sales tax. Democrats are constantly whining about making things “fair,” but they refuse to consider anything that would actually do so. “Fair” to a Democrat means sluicing money to unions, community organizers, fat cat donors and grievance groups that are in turn dedicated to perpetuating their lucrative leaching off an ever-shrinking base of productive tax payers. It’s the Circle of Life, liberal-progressive style.
*Adults can legally possess up to an ounce
Image may be NSFW.
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