NC GOP theory: your need to eat makes you "dependable"

I guess you could pursue the starvation loophole, if the tax bothers you that much:

Republican legislative leaders are crafting a package of changes to North Carolina's tax code that they say will stimulate economic growth, including slapping a 6 percent sales tax on groceries. Food should be taxed, they say, because grocery spending is dependable.

The proper form of the word is "dependent". As in, we are dependent upon food for our very survival. Of all the consumption-based taxes, this one is (by far) the worst. Instituting a regressive tax in an area that is already past the crisis point is easily the most irresponsible move our government could make, aside from maybe running children down at crosswalks:

Child hunger is a problem hiding in plain sight in North Carolina. Whether families are skipping breakfast so the food will stretch through dinner or eating packaged foods because fruits and vegetables are too expensive, many North Carolina children aren’t eating balanced five food group meals.

In May 2009, Feeding America released the results of its first analysis of food insecurity in early childhood, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2005-2007. North Carolina ranked second in the nation for children under five who are food insecure or lack regular access to nutritional food. The state was 10th in the same Feeding America study of food insecurity in children 0-18 years old, using figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For you General Assembly members reading this, here's a challenge: the next time you have a family get-together or neighborhood cookout, I want you to randomly select 1 out of every 4 children and tell them they don't get to eat that day.

If you can't muster the audacity to do that, then you better vote "no" on this consumption tax when it comes up, or publicly admit you're the hypocrite you are.