Chavez Threatens Meat

(Caracas, Venezuela) With soaring socialist government spending, the Venezuelan economy is suffering under inflationary pressure, 17 percent last year. To counter the inflation, Hugo Chavez's administration announced that the 14 percent sales tax on food products like beef and pork would be cut and the state-controlled oil company would pay taxes in dollars, not Venezuelan bolivars.

From CaribbeanNetNews.com:

Critics say the Chavez government's heavy spending has distorted the nation's economy and led to runaway inflation that has been particularly noticeable in increased food prices.

The announcements came several days after beef disappeared from supermarket shelves following conflicts between authorities and producers over government-imposed price controls.

Once again, we have evidence that price controls do nothing but create shortages.

Producers and distributors have said they cannot comply with the price controls because they have not been adjusted to compensate for double-digit inflation.

Government leaders accuse producers and distributors of hoarding goods to increase prices, and last week they carried out high-profile seizures of goods like sugar.

Vice President Rodriguez warned on Sunday that the government would take control of meat production and distribution if business leaders did not comply with government regulations.

So, in addition to recently taking over electricity and telecommunications in Venezuela, dictator Chavez now threatens to nationalize meat production and distribution if private businesses are not willing to operate at a loss.

The Marxist march toward utopia continues.