Peter Callaghan nails it in a wry, tongue-in-cheek column about taxes on candy and bottle water:

Some have said paying more for candy is the least we can do to keep public safety agencies intact, to assure that public schools and colleges don’t suffer even deeper cuts, to help maintain the already frayed safety net.

Well, I happen to think it is unfair to fund schools for Dick and Jane by taxing Mike And Ike.

I can understand applying the sales tax to discretionary purchases like clothing, shoes, cars, home improvements, restaurant meals, toilet paper and winter coats for children.

But when they go after life’s necessities like Hello Kitty Candy Lip Gloss and Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans (in the fabric bag) – not to mention new taxes on pop and beer and Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water that we need to wash down all those Gummi Worms – they have gone too far.