Utah businessman taxes the liberal 10% -- in the name of conservatism

If this country wants to get its fiscal house in order, the thinking goes, it needs all the money it can get.

And in the small town of Vernal, Utah -- population 9,248 -- George Burnett is doing his part.

The owner of “I Love Drilling Juice & Smoothie Bar” is charging self-identified liberal customers $1 more than their conservative counterparts for a 16-ounce smoothie, The Times reported Tuesday.

So let me get this straight. Burnett, whose business is in Uintah County -- where 10,001 voters, or 90%, went for Mitt Romney and most of the remaining votes went to liberals -- is taxing the 10% a buck apiece?

How very … Barack Obama of him.

Kudos to Burnett for stirring up some news for his oil-themed business, but what the man has in publicity generating prowess, he apparently lacks in fundraising ability.

“Really what I’m focused on is the fiscal differences between big government, small government and liberal ways, as far as entitlements and spending,” he told KSL-TV Channel 5 in Salt Lake City. “We have a fiscal problem in this country.”

He said the extra buck he charges liberals will go toward conservative causes and places like the Heritage Foundation. In Uintah County, that’d be $999 for every liberal voter, or $1,067 if you count votes that went to Libertarian Gary Johnson.

But what if Romney voters heard there was a business out there donating to like-minded causes? Burnett could rustle up $10,000 for his cause and maximize profits, no problem.

Isn’t that what the free market is all about?

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