Juice bar owner slaps extra tax on liberal customers

A juice and smoothie bar owner in Vernal, Utah, has come up with a novel way of expressing his political opinion: He’s charging liberals a buck more for drinks.

“I’m very open about it, very public about it, that I’m going to charge them a little bit more, and I have liberals come in and pay the extra dollar surcharge,” said George Burnett, owner of I Love Drilling Juice & Smoothie Bar, in a KSL.com report.

The extra money, he said, goes to support the conservative Washngton-based think tank, The Heritage Foundation.

Response, so far, has been mixed, with conservatives voicing support and others taking to Burnett’s Facebook page to voice their disapproval.

“Highly offensive and inappropriate,” commented one.

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**FILE** In this Oct. 5, 2007, file photo, ABC News correspondent John ... more >

“This is pathetic,” wrote another.

Regardless, Burnett is standing fast. His overall goal, according to KSL, is to draw attention to the country’s fiscal debt and to the burdensome regulatory climate that’s driving up energy costs.

Burnett’s method is not altogether strange.

In November of 2010, FOX News Channel host John Stossel used food sales to draw attention to a political issue. Stossel sold cupcakes at prices that varied with the customer’s race in order to highlight the underlying unfairness of affirmative action.