The BEER Act - Chutzpah & Hypocrisy
October 2nd, 2009
I have two awards to present this week—one for Chutzpah and the other for Hypocrisy.
The First Annual Chutzpah Award goes to the Beer Institute and Brewers Association. The beer merchants’ lobby “proudly announced” last week that it had lined up (lined the pockets of?) 218 members of the US House of Representatives to sponsor legislation to roll back the federal excise tax on beer.
The arrogance of the Beer industry is as palpable as the pandering of the 218 sponsors, brazenly revealed in the way they named their proposed bill. They call it the BEER Act, short for Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act!
The bill would repeal the excise tax on beer that was enacted in 1991, the last time the Congress dared to tax beer. Because of the strength of the beer lobby, the average (real) price of beer has been declining steadily over the past 40 years. Meanwhile, for every dollar of alcohol taxes collected, federal and state governments spend almost nine dollars coping with the health care, criminal justice, family violence and other public costs of substance abuse and addiction.
The First Annual Hypocrisy Award goes to Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Tom Latham (R-IA) and the 216 other House members who cosponsored the BEER bill to cut the tax on beer in half which will reduce the cost of beer and make this drink fit even more easily into the weekly allowances of teens. As matters now stand, the alcohol industry gets almost 20 percent of its profits from underage drinkers. By lowering the tax and hence the price–but not their profits–the beer merchants are sure to get even more underage drinker dollars.
What makes the sponsorship of this legislation the height of hypocrisy is that these are the same guys who will be voting to reform our health care system. Think about this: They are planning to cut back on Medicare for the elderly, impose a tax on middle class Americans who don’t get health insurance, lay a heavy burden on states to pay for more people under Medicaid, and find other taxes to cover the cost of sick care reform. Yet these representatives are willing to make more available and less costly a substance that is responsible for an enormous segment of our health care costs.
Risky and excessive drinking–the lions share of which begins with teenagers bingeing on beer–accounts for some 15 percent of the nation’s health care costs, some $365 billion; and roughly 15 percent of Medicare and Medicaid spending, some $51 billion. Availability is the mother of use and this legislation will make this substance even more available to underage and excessive drinkers. Wouldn’t any intelligent legislator be thinking of increasing the tax on beer and other alcohol in the year of health care reform, rather than making this drug of entry for millions of teens cheaper to buy?
If Congress wonders why it is held in such low esteem, its members might reflect on how it looks to have a majority of House members cheering for the BEER law to reduce taxes on beer, as it fills the halls and cable channels with rhetoric about health care reform.
Incidentally, if you’re mad as hell about this, check out the Join Together website where you can find out whether your Representative is sponsoring the BEER Act.
Comments:
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Great post, Mr. Califano. I hope you consider adding some “share” plug-ins to your blogs to make it easier for us to repost on our Facebook and blog sites. As a college professor, I try to educate students about drinking without sounding preachy, and placing opinions and resources like yours and CASA’s on media students use is a big help.
Nice analogy but the rest of the big picture might provide an unbiased perspective. First legal beverage, second vital part of our economy… Third-jobs, and more jobs are directly related to the beer industry…incomes that help families survive, tuition’s paid, and communities gain from the profits. Granted cutting the tax is absurd at best…in fact it should increase in direct proportion to the cost of living index, and inflation…but this “drug” use by teens is clearly in direct correlation to the lack of prevention resources allocated by Congress, and the limp parenting that exists.
Looking at Congress in a wholistic manner at it relates to a myriad of waste might be the way to redirect resources to help everyone understand the real ins and outs of being wasted! Better understanding and more resources for prevention, treatment, and recovery.
Nice pointing out the hypocrisy but maybe it is really members being truly uninformed as there plates over flow… many members may note have read the bill! “Maybe if they sit down and have a beer and discuss it they could figure it out”, leadership said. Common sense and education is the mother of responsible use, at a legal age, and for a life time. Hats off to the teens that get that…they are our hope. Thanks for helping to make people think. Best to you.
Mr. Chairman,
Thank you for these very well stated comments and appropriate awards to the beer industry.
The use and abuse of beverage alcohol, mostly beer, is responsible for untold numbers of deaths on the highways. The intoxicant, beer, is particularly effective in corrupting young people.
Inmates in our corrections facilities credit beverage alcohol, mostly beer, with giving them the ‘courage’ to inflict all sorts of mayhem on Americans.
However, as we know, incarcerated inmates are not credible. Congress relies on beer lobbyists for information. Hello! What is wrong with this picture?
While tobacco companies have been held accountable for the public health consequences of their products, the beer industry wants NO accountability!
It is as if they assert that their product, a drug, got to the marketplace by accident. They just make it. Everything following the manufacture of their drug is another’s responsibility.
They always fail to mention their advertising which is directed to young people. The industries various companies even attempt to attain brand loyalty to teens and pre-teens through the sale of questionable products some of which are non-alcoholic.
Their hypocrisy is world class!
Thanks for your efforts to focus common sense on the marketing of beer.
Mike Fair
SC State Senate
There are many such ridiculous stories. In our little town the town councillor for health is in private a tabacco farmer who gets subventions for his tobacco from the federal state. The same state gets taxes on tobacco and makes prevention for smokers. In the national parliament the coucillor was just active in the debate which ended in a bill allowing alcohol advertising for beer and wine at Swiss television, which was so far always banned since the beginning of tv.
Horray for you comments. I also am astounded by the hyprocricy of the beer lobby and its supporters. Community Coalitions in Arizona are attemptng to do a statewide initiative on the 2012 ballot to tax alcohol and fund prevention programs. While we have a ways to go, web page, champions, $ for public opinons surveys we are a small but determind group of communityi coalitions and invite everyone to join us and provide assistance in the areas I previouly mentioned. Thanks for your leadership Dr, Califano
I am a Certified /License Addictiion Sp. at 80 years old active
Recovering alcoholic, still AA member
I wonder what Bill W and Dr. Bob would say about the taxes
The way we see it in the field, they are getting younger, using more alcohol, the Government makes it easeier/they make the youngeralcoholic, drunk drivers/ My last session Client asked “why do they do they make the stuff, if its bad”
Dr. califano,
I greatly respect the work you have done and the message you are bringing in this blog. Thanks for the commonsense and honest appraisal of the situation with alcohol.
I have asked my legislators why the alcohol industry gets reduced taxes on a product that does so much harm, when other products such as bottled water and soda must pay cost of living taxes. In my state it is almost as cheap to buy beer as it is soda. We all know that kids drink what is cheapest .
In response to Brian, I do understand that beer is big business but as a legitimate business it needs to pay its share of business taxes including cost of living increases and be responsible to society for the harm their product causes. How can our legislature allocate adequate funds for prevention when this business is getting a free ride and not paying their fair share of the taxes.
Alcohol is a drug and next to tobacco it is a major cause of many societal problems that could be greatly reduced if contolled. A local Sheriff in a small rural county in Michigan once told me, “if alcohol was eliminated from his county 95% of his work would be gone.”
When are we going to wise up and make the industry pay its’ fair share for the problems their product causes?
When a special interest group or, a self interest group, lobbies they are exercising their right and should be allowed to do so. However we need to remind each other that they are motivated by self interest and that their perspective has self limited value. Yes, beer is legal, entrenched and keeps people employed in making a product that many use socially and responsibly. But, the responsible and social drinker can easily cut back if the price is high. The alcoholic will, on the other hand, increase consumption by sacrificing anything - period. They only stop when they hit a bottom harsh enough to pierce their denial which will happen more readily if taxes keep the price up. Harsh; yes. True; also yes. What of jobs? If the taxes are not lowered jobs remain secure. If taxes are lowered then the product is more available and jobs increase but, at what price. Would it be like the price of making opiates, cocaine and crystal meth as legally available as beer? I don’t know and am interested in the opinion of anyone who logically disputes what I say but, I am very un-interested in the opinion of anyone who claims that something is a farce (or otherwise incorrect) without logical dispute.
Right on Target. Now these votes for hire ought to be the target themselves. Is anyone able to identify how much they’re getting for their votes and publicize that along with the bill they had written for them by the Beer Institute?
Mr. Califano,
As a former CA Dept of Alcoholic Beverage Control officer, I’m now a consultant to beverage retailers here in CA. My focus is on risk assessment, policy development and responsible beverage service training… helping licensees sell alcohol safely, responsibly and legally.
When I told one of my former colleagues what I know do, he said, “So, you’ve gone to the OTHER SIDE!” I didn’t have a response at the time, but now I would respond, “No, I’m right in the middle of the road, where I can have an influence.”
By this I mean, I’m networking with those in the alcohol industry online and putting out responsible beverage service messages wherever I can–on my blog and on the groups I’ve joined on LinkedIn.
I think too often those involved in prevention stick together in a tightly-knit group and don’t attempt to get to know the manufacturers, distributors or retailers and see things from their perspective, and establish relationships–however deep–that can help them gain their trust.
Those working in prevention, including governments, need to do a better job of marketing their message, all the way down to good copywriting, and citing research to back up their messages. After all, the alcohol industry spends untold dollars in marketing.
Your blog is a great way to get your message out. I hope those involved in prevention will use, or increase their use of, effective online marketing strategies to get the message out about what the research says.