No, not Stephen. Jean Baptiste.

"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing."

The Minnesota DFL thinks the Atomizer is a goose.

A bill moving through the legislature would add a 10 cent tax to every drink at bars in Minnesota. A dime a drink would raise tens of millions of dollars that would pump money into law enforcement including catching drunk drivers.

Supporters of the drink tax say it is not really a tax, it's more of a user fee. Chemical dependency experts say only 10 percent of drinkers are responsible for 60 percent of alcohol-related problems.

The author of the bill says most drinkers won't even notice the tax.

"The impact here is very, very small. On the individual drink. Very, very small. Probably a stick of gum. You can't even buy a piece of candy for what we are talking about here," said Rep. Karen Clark, a Democrat from Minneapolis.

�We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle� -- Winston Churchill. Which reminds of the time I saw the Fraters at a bar...

Labels: legislature, Minnesota