Cows and Soda Pop! What's next?

Taxing cows. Call this one of the more innovative ways our government has come up with to increase revenues.

Of course, this isn't being billed (what an ironic word) as a tax. It's called a levy for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Still sounds like a tax to me.

How much is this tax? $175 per cow. But only $20 per hog. Sounds like "the other white meat" will be more attractive - expense wise at least.

And then there's New York's "Soda Pop" tax proposal. Weirdly, this is being heralded as a public health measure. That's right. Although this surcharge will increase revenues by over $500 million per year in New York alone, we shouldn't mistake this for a revenue enhancer. It's all about our government caring for our welfare. We'll just ignore the fact that New York, like most other states, are facing huge budget deficits. They're not concerned about that. . . . . . nope - it's all about keeping us healthy.