By Jon Decker
One of the great underreported stories of the midterm election was the decisive defeat handed to liberal activists wishing to enact grocery taxes in Washington State.
Voters in Washington – where statewide elections are typically dominated by Seattle-area liberals – approved a ballot measure that would ban local municipalities from enacting taxes on processed foods and beverages in a near-landslide 56 percent to 44 percent decision.
To make things more interesting, rather than accept the fact that Washington residents rejected the regressive nanny-state tax hike, liberals are in denial.
They are bizarrely claiming this amounted to a “deceptive ballot initiative” that was “fundamentally misleading” and “reminiscent of the tobacco industry’s playbook”.
Here is the actual text of the ballot initiative that liberals are calling “deceptive”:
“This measure would prohibit new or increased local taxes, fees, or assessments on raw or processed foods or beverages (with exceptions), or ingredients thereof, unless effective by January 15, 2018, or generally applicable.
Should this measure be enacted into law?”
As the text makes blindingly obvious, a “yes” vote banned local grocery taxes.
The sanctimonious outrage displayed by leftwing activists is both comical and revealing. Surely voters were too dumb to understand what this actually meant! It certainly couldn’t mean that Washington residents just didn’t want to pay more for the food or beverages they enjoy, or experience the sort of sticker shock that has taken place in Seattle.
The left seems to be having a hard time accepting their recent defeats, statewide in Washington or in Santa Fe, New Mexico – another location not generally known as a bastion of free market thought.
For members of the food police grocery taxes are necessary because people aren’t smart enough to choose what groceries they buy, as Mike Bloomberg himself has helpfully explained.
And when voters decide at the ballot box to ban such taxes, it must be because those voters are not smart enough to read.
Regardless of how the Michael Bloombergs of the world attempt to spin this embarrassing ballot defeat, Washington and Sante Fe’s ballot initiatives make clear that not everyone buys into liberals’ self-righteous attitude towards the American consumer.
Sorry tax hikers.
Photo Credit:lyzadanger
Sanctimonious Liberals Can’t Figure Out Why Voters Don’t Love Grocery Taxes
