Again we use children as an excuse

Cook County Commissioner Tony Preckwinkle cast the decisive vote in favor of adding a tax of one cent per ounce on soft drink beverages sold within the county.

These inept, fiscally challenged parasites living off the public purse use children as a cover for their continued extortion. The children need to be protected, so the scenario goes. It's always about the children, who were once the excuse for creating legal gambling via the Lotto so the kids could have better schools.

Taxes on tobacco to protect our kids from starting a nasty addiction. Now these children need protection from tooth decay, obesity and all the other ills caused by the always-available villain - sugar.

Meanwhile, as the Cook County Board increases its stranglehold on its most economically endangered and inner-city-trapped members living on the lowest rung of the economic ladder, suburbanites in the collar counties simply increase their visits across county lines to make their purchases of gasoline, cigarettes, sugary drinks and a whole host of stealth-taxed items found only in Cook County.

Given the mindset of our tax-and-spend zealots, perhaps they might consider my proposal to end gun violence in our county - a $200 tax on every handgun sold within our county line. Yeah, that should do it!

Gerald Wester

Mount Prospect