Well the judge has ruled that the sugary drink tax which had been on hold is legit and it can begin Aug. 2. That is also the day that I will never buy another pop in this county. When government goes from “taxation without representation” as it did during the Boston Tea Party to our current system of “representation solely by over-taxation,” it is time for a Cook County Pop Party!
Consumers and voters should be up in arms that Luis Arroyo, Jerry Butler, John Daley, Chuy Garcia, Edward Moody, Stanley Moor, Deborah Sims and Larry Suffredin all voted for the tax. The board vote was tied and Board President Toni “Phony” Preckwrinkle was the tiebreaker.
Those do-nothing board members have overstepped their bounds and their fiduciary responsibility to us taxpayers. We can reward them with an opportunity to seek employment elsewhere as we vote them out of office. That is the only message that politicians who come seeking your vote every two or four years understand. Otherwise they don’t give a damn!
When the idea for the tax was first proposed before the board, there were many in the audience in support of it. Those supporters professed that the tax was going to create a healthier community—except there is one caveat to that imagery. Link Card holders are exempt from the tax. So those who are on the public dole for their food can still buy the unhealthy pop and chips and don’t have to pay what they rest of us will be forced to pay. That is discrimination against those of us who don’t qualify for food assistance. I have contended even before this tax was implemented that if an item qualifies as a high tax one, the Link Card should not be paying for it. State lawmakers should address this issue, but they, just like the county board, are too trifling. Many of them don’t deserve reelection and in a later column I will write why.
As taxpayers, we should be demanding a forensic audit of exactly what this county needs and what is pure pork. County workers are paid better than state workers and since the Demoncracks are the ones in charge, how much of what this county does is waste? Do we really need certain positions filled? How much of the free medical service is going to people in this country illegally? The ability to tax taxpayers doesn’t make us an endless source of revenue when the goal should be less taxes and responsible usage of our tax dollars.
I plan on purchasing my soda in DuPage, Lake or Kane Counties. When I do, I’m going to take a snapshot of the receipt and put it on Phony Preckwrinkle’s Facebook page. It will be a reminder that she ran to remove Todd Stroger from the seat over a penny sales tax and in the end, she implemented the exact same tax and has now taxed us even more.
How much will the sugary drink tax affect business? Somehow I have the feeling that businesses located near Cook County’s border won’t be selling any pop as residents refuse to pay the exorbitant amount. Anyone who lived through the years of watching politicians over-tax cigarettes know that it never generated the revenue that the politicians predicted. But they did it anyway with no fear of reprisal. I expect that come March 20, 2018, those folks will get a reward that they never saw coming by voters supporting their challengers and removing them all from office.
CONTACT: westside2day@yahoo.com
