Far be it from me to stoke the fires of rebellion, but I am obligated to report the news. Please don't shoot the messenger, especially y'all at Badger Blog Alliance. Steve Stanek of the Heartland Institute has exposed one of the great evils of our time.

"President George H.W. Bush and Congress in 1990 raised a host of excise taxes on "luxury" items including expensive cars, fur coats, jewelry, yachts, and private airplanes. Included in the list of luxury items was beer, which at the time saw a doubling of the federal excise tax, from $9 to $18 a barrel."

"Fifteen years later, the taxes on expensive cars, fur coats, jewelry, yachts, and private airplanes have been rolled back. The beer tax remains, even though the main purchasers of beer are lower- and middle-income consumers. Taxes make up an astounding 44 percent of the retail price of beer, according to the Beer Institute."

Please, ladies and gentlemen, replace the pins in those grenades and holster those sidearms!

(H.T. to John Ray of Dissecting Leftism.)