"The taxes are passed right on to the consumers by the manufacturers. In the costs of the products. And also, the costs of whatever else they can pass along, including the cost of advertizing. This is why the brand-name articles cost more than the generic, even when the product is the same. We're paying for their name recognition, which is purchased with the advertizing dollar."

You don't know how it works. A seller of anything wants the highest price he/she can get. Lowers price in order to sell (increase demand) raises price when it doesn't restrict sales [when there is enough demand].
Name brands generally have more demand, retailer will pay more a name brands and can sell product at higher price. Retailer will offer number name brands and generic, because not all customers want same brand. It would lower costs for a store owner to only sell one type of dish soap, but doing this would reduce the amounts sales- customers will go to other stores with more selection.

"Ask any drug company.

I used the word "tax" not for its dictionary definition, but for its overall meaning: costs added on by large entities (government or corportation) that are basically beyond the control of the average citizen/consumer except through remedies that involve purging: election and boycott."

Drugs are expensive because govt slows the development of new drugs- bureaucratic paperwork- and gives exclusive rights to the drug company that develop new drugs. If you want to lower the cost of recently developed drugs, have govt speed up it's paperwork process.
If each new drug was as throughly test, but paperwork process streamline you would lower the price of drugs.