Just to put into perspective the new Allegheny County 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks and $2 daily tax on rental cars that ostensibly will provide part of a "dedicated" funding stream for mass transit:
• You may recall that Chief Executive Dan Onorato demurred to Gov. Ed Rendell in prior contract negotiations with the union representing the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Mr. Rendell, of course, then in re-election mode, "saved" the public from mass-transit strikes in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia by preserving considerable union-mandated bloat. So, beginning Jan. 1, the public will pay for Rendell's politicking and Mr. Onorato's subservient complicity.
• How long will it take for local automobile insurers to raise rates? How's that? Many auto insurance policies feature rental-car coverage. And considering so many Allegheny County car rentals are in-county deals -- as high as 45 percent by one estimate -- rest assured that cost will be passed along in premium increases.
• Certainly members of Pittsburgh City Council were asleep at the switch during the County Council debate on the drink tax. Given the concentration of bars and restaurants that serve alcohol within the city limits, those establishments stand to feel the greatest share of the pinch. The least Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl could have done would have been to challenge Onorato to a cork-popping duel. But not a peep from Hizzhoner or his City Council peeps. Maybe they do most of their imbibing on out-of-town junkets?
• It didn't take long for the specter of the drink tax to start driving business out of Allegheny County. The owner of the very popular Franco's Trattoria in Dormont, Joe D'Amico, says the coming tax means he'll open a second restaurant south of the border in Washington County. So much for the theory that businesses don't base how or where they operate on how deep local government thrusts its hands into their pockets or how often the taxman tickles their knees.
• Hey, while we're on the subject, has anybody stopped to calculate the compliance costs of Onorato's Subservient Complicity Tax? Not only will establishments have to raise prices to cover the tax, they'll have to raise prices to cover the cost of collecting this new tax. Baby, can $4 bar beer and $10 ballpark beer be far behind?
• And what slick bar or restaurant owner will be the first to subvert the new drink tax ordinance by complying with it to the strict letter of the law?
To wit, what if the alcoholic drink isn't "poured"? Perhaps a new industry of swiggable 6-ounce merlot bottles will be born. Or perhaps an industry that manufactures "wine and spirits spoons" will emerge for barkeeps who decide to (as one e-mail making the circuit suggested) spoon, not pour, their orders.
Perhaps somebody at Carnegie Mellon University will invent a "liquor vacuum" to get around the law at the fancier establishments. And for the shot-and-beer crowd, siphons could become as commonplace as forks and knives.
Seriously, if you buy a bottle of beer and don't use a glass, why should the "poured" tax apply?
• Allegheny Institute policy analyst Eric Montarti offered this succinct assessment on the think tank's blog:
"(W)ith (Allegheny County) Council members looking to nonprofits for revenue, permitting new taxes and letting personnel costs get the best of them, the chasm that once separated Allegheny County government from the City of Pittsburgh government appears to be getting smaller."
Taint a dime's worth of difference between 'em, folks. And what, class, is the common denominator? Democrat control.
Back in 2002, Chris Atkins, writing for the American Legislative Exchange Council, reminded that taxes on alcohol are "highly regressive," hurting those with smaller incomes more. But more importantly, and to paraphrase Mr. Atkins, raising excise taxes on the few to provide government services for the many is anathema to responsible governance.
Of course, we're talking about Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, where "responsible governance" continues to be an alien concept.
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