Poll or pole tax: a loser no matter which way you spell it

Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest prime ministers of the modern era, or probably any era for that matter. The shadow she cast upon future leaders of the Conservative party was so great that they were shrivelled by it. Only the boyish Scot appears to have been successful in throwing it off, perhaps not coincidentally because folks got fed up with so many years of Tony Blinton, now awash in cash; though his success in that department pales into insignificance compared with his mentor Bill; after his retirement and conversion to Catholicism. But I digress.

Despite her success and power, Maggie came a cropper when she stubbornly attempted to impose the poll tax against the wisdom of most party members. Now another form of pole tax has bitten the dust in Texas, though perhaps it is of less consequence, since there are only 162 strip clubs where this $5 a head tax would have applied. It was declared unconstitutional because there was deemed to be no connection between indigent health care and strip joints.