Why won't Karol Nawrocki sign the excise tax and sugar levy increase?

Why the surprise? During the campaign, Karol Nawrocki promised not to sign any laws that increase the tax burden on citizens - excise taxes and sugar levy are taxes, ergo not signing is nothing more than keeping a promise. And this is the problem: policymakers should very carefully track what and to whom the president promised in the campaign, including in the area of (public) health, to avoid surprises in the future (for example, on the issue of mandatory immunization of children and adolescents).

And back to excise taxes. The president and his colleagues will, of course, explain that they care about the pockets of Poles. And that raising "sin taxes" would benefit the health of Poles? And here, too, come to the aid of snapshots from the campaign, in which he declared that citizens themselves should be responsible for their own health. These declarations were made in the context of, for example, banning the sale of alcohol at gas stations and other restrictions on availability. Higher excise taxes mean less affordability, Karol Nawrocki does not want such restrictions, even if the knowledge that less alcohol consumption positively affects public health indicators is not reserved for experts. There is no doubt about this either when it comes to the sugar levy, which, after all, was introduced by the Law and Justice government, overcoming the veto of the then opposition Senate (and how not to believe in the proverbial "karma returns," in this case in the form of sugar, of course). By the way, it will be interesting to see what view Prof. Piotr Czauderna, appointed a few days ago as presidential advisor to him, has (or will have) on the issue of the veto of higher sin taxes, and - possibly - whether his advisory voice on the matter has already resounded and been taken into account.

Everything indicates that health is not the issue here. And what is it about? About politics, about shutting down the government to increase revenues - for sure. About building one's image as a "libertarian" (the Confederation, and especially its electorate, "like it") - for sure. About reinforcing the belief that the president is closer to the people, living in "normal, healthy, Polish homes." So, yes. When a recording was published last week of PiS-linked politicians with PZPN activists, under the influence of alcohol, singing "Barka," one of the "heroes" of the recording, the notorious MP Lukasz Mejza explained to the media: - A group of grown-up guys after working hours agreed to drink vodka, as in any, normal, healthy, Polish home.

Well, then, the point may be to make sure that this fuel for "Barka" never runs out in Polish homes... August, for decades proclaimed by the Episcopate as a month of sobriety, is the perfect time to declare that the president will see to this.