OLYMPIA -- Taxing bottled water is such a bad thing that Sen. Mike Carrell wondered today where it would all stop, and offered up no less an expert than The Beatles to prove his point.

But Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, made it clear she wasn't going to be out-Beatled.

Carrell, R-Lakewood, was trying to force a November advisory vote on a section of the Senate Democrats' proposal that would extend the sales tax to bottled water. Right now, it's considered a food item, and exempt from the tax. Republicans had already won the point that the tax should be temporary, but Carrell wanted the plebiscite "to let the people know who is for taxing."

After all, this is taxing water, he said. What's next? "There's an old Beatles song about taxing the air we breathe. This is getting close to that."

Prentice signaled she'd had enough of the argument by replying: "That Beatles reference is from their album 'Revolver.' "

True Beatles fans know  one of them is wrong. Go inside the blog to find out who.

 

Prentice is right that "Taxman" is on "Revolver" (It's the first track.)

Carrell is wrong about the lyrics, however. There are references to taxing streets, seats, heat, feet and even the pennies on a corpse's eyes. But the song doesn't have a line about taxing the air.

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