Budget black hole; Rudd taxes us to save us from smoking

My brother's a street-corner preacher:

He saves gorgeous women who sin:

He'll save you a blonde for a guinea:

My God, how the money rolls in! – Old ditty

Kevin Rudd has a little problem.  The projected deficit budget is already failing to live up to revenue projections to the tune of billions, the announcement of more new expenditure on the PNG solution, dropping the carbon tax and a revenue shortfall of up to $30 billion has created a budget black hole.  It is therefore time for the government to make what the echo chamber that passes for journalism these days, calls savings.

Now; those of you who are not Australian and lack the political sophistication that goes with it, probably think of savings in terms of cutting back on expenditures in order to get them to a point where they are less than your income, and putting something away for a rainy day.  That is the old-fashioned logic based thinking that went out with the Ark here in Australian politics.

What you all fail to understand is that the economy, all of it, every bit, belongs to the government.  As such, making savings is a far simpler matter.  All you have to do is to take back some of the earnings that your benevolence has allowed the common herd to keep for those simple pleasures that the government has yet to provide.

The trick is coming up with a reason to increase taxation, without having to use excuses such as, “We’re broke.”

The health of the nation though, is another matter, dear to the hearts of bureaucrats, nanny state politicians, and wowsers alike.  With much to pay for, and little revenue to do it with, Kev has suddenly noticed that smoking has been credited with a number of health debits.  As such, he has become desperately concerned about the welfare of the people, even those who live north of the Pine River in Queensland, who he claims, all play banjos.  A higher excise duty on tobacco is just the thing to go for: 

Touring the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's under-construction cancer centre in Sydney today, the Prime Minister singled out smoking as a top health priority for his government."We need to get serious on this major driver of cancer in Australia and around the world. The legitimate question is 'well what are you doing about it?'. 

"That's the nature of the challenge; 125,000 Australians being affected by cancer each year, 30 per cent of them afflicted through smoking-related cancers,' Mr Rudd said. 

"And on top of that you have the extraordinary cost to our public hospital system. The cost to the economy by the way is estimated to be $31.5 billion a year.

With an election coming up and the need to cover the cost of numerous grandiose schemes designed to draw votes, you can expect Rudd to develop serious concerns about alcohol consumption, gambling, fatty foods, soft drink, and the use of carbon; all of which can be cured with a tax that narrow minded bigoted lobby groups can cheer.

Just as long as no inconsiderate bastard actually gives up his sinning, the tax on them should keep Kev in front of the game.