As usual, the Daily Collegian's editorial board has managed to put forth their liberal ideals as though they are universally accepted. Their stance on the cigarette tax increase is a disgrace. The language of the editorial suggests that there is nothing wrong with a tax increase if it is spent to help people.

It is this fundamentally flawed thinking that adds to the already too invasive tax culture that we live in.

All tax increases are bad. It doesn't matter if the tax is on income, cigarettes, or fast food (which is being kicked around in some parts of the country.) Allowing the government to continually go deeper and deeper into our wallets does nothing to improve the human condition.

The best way to help the population as a whole is to allow them to keep and spend as much of their money as possible. The liberals, the self-proclaimed yet erroneously named champions of the working class, for some reason think it is fine to raise taxes on a product consumed mostly by the working class, as if taking more of their hard-earned money will somehow help them out.

Of course, the alignment of the left with the tax culture is ultimately due to their belief that the government, not the individual, is best equipped to make decisions for us. This goes against every principle of self-determination that this country was founded upon.

The government should not be trying to get me to quit smoking by raising prices and should not force me to give more money to them simply for choosing to buy cigarettes. If you want to support cancer research or smoking cessation programs, which are certainly worthwhile, then all means open your wallet.

But, it is not the government's job to tell anyone how to live their life, and it is certainly not their job spend our money for us. To feel otherwise and endorse an increase in any taxes is to permit the government to become ever more invasive in our lives. This is unacceptable no matter how you look at it.