Using taxation for behavior modification is wrong.  The public is helpless and powerless in going up against the sheer horsepower government can deploy to force you to pay taxes or adopt the behavior they want you to start, quit or modify.<p>This idea of taxing anything we can pull out of our asses is perverted in so many ways.  Tax pencils so people use less paper?  Sure.  Tax bank ATM transactions so people do more online?  Why not.  Tax anything we can imagine at any time.<p>I have a very fundamental problem with this idea of taxing whatever the fuck politicians can imagine because it leads to more waste, misuse and more control of the people by government.<p>Case in point:  One of my favorites is the County of Los Angeles Business Property Tax.<p>What do you think this is?  You think &quot;property tax&quot;, it must be tax on a building you own.<p>Wrong.<p>This is a tax on EVERYTHING you have inside the building.  Any property the business owns, is taxed.  Property?  Yes, your desk, stapler, photocopier, chairs, coffee machine, tables, printers, computers, projectors, etc.  Even tenant improvement costs are considered &quot;business property&quot; and fall under this tax.<p>And you get taxed on this crap FOREVER!<p>So, you bought a desk, paid state sales tax when you did and now you get to pay the County of Los Angeles a small annual tax on that desk in perpetuity based on the value of the desk every year.<p>Do you have a factory full of CNC machines and sophisticated manufacturing equipment?  Pay up!<p>Do you have a small tech company with a couple of dozen cubicles and nice computers?  Pay up!<p>It&#x27;s sick.  Truly sick.  We are being taxed to death from every angle.  Very soon they are going to install a fart meter in every chair and find a way to tax your farts.<p>Where does the money go?  Who knows.  As I said, truly sick.