You Are Being Robbed

If you smoke or drink, a small group of individuals in State Government have declared war on you.

The cost of cigarettes and alcohol is now obscenely high, in a state that has long been proudly associated with bourbon and tobacco. This new 6 percent liquor tax - which is on top of a 11 percent wholesale tax, and which is on top of an excise tax - is un-American.

I don't just mean I don't like it. I don't just mean it's not fair. I mean it literally is against American principles to punish drinkers and reward non-drinkers, and in so doing furthering a religious neo-conservative agenda even though our current Governor is supposed to be a Democrat.

For me, it's not about the money; I have plenty of that. But there was a time in my life when I didn't, and there are plenty of Kentuckians who are barely surviving in these hard economic times. For a politician to punish Kentucky citizens in this way is precisely - and I say this without hyperbole - the same kind of sociopathic sadism as a child who pulls the wings off flies.

Any man who would try to curtail any American's consumption of cigarettes and alcohol by making them prohibitively expensive is, by definition, un-American. As a Transylvania Gentleman, it is your duty to help your fellow man have unfettered access to these Earthly delights.

The money that has been taken you from by these men in Government has been literally stolen from you. They may have the money - because there is no way to avoid giving it to them due to its being a sales tax - but is still YOUR money even though it is their hands.

They stole this money from you, just as surely as if they had conked you over the head with a blunt object or mugged you at gunpoint.

As the days turn to weeks, and the weeks turn to months, and as you continue to buy smokes and booze at these gangster's prices, the amount of money these men owe you is growing.

The question is, how much longer are you going to let these men steal your money?


- - JSH