Another Whiskey Rebellion brewing in PA?

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at a modern-day "Whiskey Rebellion" in Western Pennsylvania.

From the story by Clare Ansberry:

More than 200 years ago, a group of angry farmers in this southwest corner of Pennsylvania tarred and feathered whiskey-tax collectors and torched their homes. That was the first Whiskey Rebellion.

Today, another rebellion, sans violence, is brewing for much the same reason. Thanks, or no thanks, to six separate state and local taxes and fees, a $10 bottle of wine here can cost nearly twice that.

The oldest tax was passed by the state as an emergency measure to help pay for extensive damage caused by a flood. The flood was in 1936. Repairs were completed within about five years. Rather than eliminate the tax, it was increased twice, from the original 10% to 15% to the current 18%. Since there is nothing left to clean up, the roughly $250 million generated from it flows into the state's general revenue.

The newest, a 10% tax on alcohol sold at retail levels, was added Jan. 1 in Allegheny County to pay for mass-transit and became the back-breaking straw that ignited the grass-roots rebellion. Along with the flood tax, the state charges a 30% markup fee, a $1.30 bottle charge, and a 7% sales tax. It also adds a few cents to make sure all prices end with a nine.

The hated liquor tax may have put an end to Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato's ambitions to run for Pennsylvania governor in 2010.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.