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The only thing we have to fear, is beer itself ...

By C.S. Wiggins

... and not one State's attempt to jack-up the tax on it -- or says Orin Kerr of The Volokh Conspiracy here. A California assemblyman, Jim Beall, has "proposed raising the beer tax by $1.80 per six-pack, or 30 cents per can or bottle. The current tax is 2 cents per can. That's an increase of about 1,500 percent," according to MercuryNews.com here.

But is this proposed tax constitutional? I say, obviously not. The tax would be blatantly unconstitutional under the Due Process clause, the 21st Amendment, the 8th Amendment, the Privileges & Immunities clause, and the Dormant Commerce Clause. Recall that the time of the Framing of the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin accurately captured the American approach to beer when he stated that "Beer is
proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." And was not Samuel Adams both a brewer and a patriot, I ask you?

I've visited Sam Adams grave in Boston. I'm not sure why. I think it's on the Freedom Trail or something. The grave is pretty nondescript, really. But I think you'd hear some rumbling were you to read aloud this legislation while standing atop it.

Full post as published by Meeting the Sin Laws on April 14, 2008 (boomark / email).