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The term was made under the Clinton administration when he jacked up the taxes on everything from alcohol to tobacco. I wasn't declaring it a sin, I was using the terminology the Democrats used at the time and what it has become known as.
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It is interesting what you learn about Clinton and Democrats on this board. To set the record straight:
1. Clinton and Democrats did not coin the term "sin tax". The word has been around probably since the 1790s and the Whiskey Rebellion.
2. Democrats and Clinton did not invent "sin taxes."
3. In fact, Alexander Hamilton probably should be credited with enacting the first federal "sin tax", on whiskey, in 1793.
Alexander Hamilton, by the way, was the leader of the conservative Federalist party.
4. Ever since then, Republicans have often proposed increases in sin taxes. For example, Ronald Reagan in 1982, along with his supply-side advisors, advocated doubling the excise taxes on gas, wine, and hard liquor.
His tax advisors told him that this would be a good deal, because raising excise taxes has less of a disincentive effect on work and investment than other forms of raising revenue.