Ole: Well, Sven, now that my Democrats are fully in charge of this state, we’re finally gonna see some changes around here.

Sven: I’m not really into politics, Ole.  Howdya mean things’ll be different?

Ole: Well for starters, we Democrats are finally gonna do something to stop people, especially the teenagers, from smoking.  Our Governor says raising the cigarette tax $1.25 will prevent 84,000 kids from being adult smokers.  And we’re gonna prevent drunk driving and all the other problems associated with excessive drinking by raising the beer tax.

Sven: Oh, I get it! Taxing an activity makes people less inclined to engage in said activity.

Ole: Exactly!

Sven: So when the Democrats say they want to raise the income tax, they want to deter income production and job creation.  And when they say they want to raise the gas tax, they want to deter driving.  And when the Democrats try raising taxes on hospitals, they want to make it tougher for people to afford health care.

Ole: Woah, hold on Sven!  When we say we want to increase the income tax, it would only be on rich people who don’t deserve it.  And we’d only tax the “excess profits” of oil companies, whatever those are.  And we wouldn’t be raising taxes on hospital patients, we’d be “leveraging” free money from the feds.  And everybody knows that money from the federal government isn’t your tax dollars or anything!

Sven: Wait, I don’t get it.  If Democrats themselves specifically say they want to raise taxes on cigarettes and beer because they know it will make people smoke and drink less, how can they simultaneously ignore the fact raising income, gas and hospital taxes will discourage people from working for a living, driving a car or going to a hospital?

Ole: Um… Sarah Palin is stupid!  Bush is a war criminal!  Hope and change!  Hope and change!