For anyone who had the stomach to watch the state of the nation speech last night you will remember Obama making a grand and deliberate statement about how those making less than $250,000 will have absolutely no tax increase. Not only that but they will have a tax cut according to Obama. I would like to take this time to expose just one of the lies involved in these statements. What our President failed to mention is that he has ALREADY PUT IN PLACE an ENORMOUS tax hike for ANYONE who uses any form of tobacco in their daily lives. This tax is what is going to pay for the bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This tax will go into effect on April 1st, 2009. Here's the breakdown of the increases:
Cigarettes -- currently 0.39 tax per pack -- new tax 1.00 per pack -- increase of $0.61 per pack
Large Cigars -- currently 20.719% of price -- new tax 52.75% of price -- increase of 32%
Little Cigars -- currently 0.04 per pack -- new tax 1.00 per pack -- increase of $0.96 per pack
Pipe Tobacco -- currently 1.09 per pound -- new tax 2.83 per pound -- increase of $1.74 per pound
Chewing Tobacco -- currently 0.19 per pound -- new tax 0.50 per pound -- increase of $0.31 per pound
Snuff -- currently 0.58 per pound -- new tax 1.51 per pound -- increase of $0.93 per pound
Cigarette Papers -- currently 0.01 per 50 papers -- new tax 0.03 per 50 papers -- increase of $0.02 per 50 papers
With the new federal tax rates going into effect on April 1,2009 the SCHIP law also requires that retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers pay a floor stock tax on cigarettes and all other tobacco products held in inventory at 12:01 A.M. on April 1, 2009. The floor stock tax equals the difference between the new rate of tax and the old rate of tax.
Now I am not an everyday smoker. I do, on occasion, like a good cigar or a nice pipe of tobacco. Usually when I am fishing. But the idea of taxing the heck out of one portion of the people in order to pay for your policies and then telling those same people that you WILL NOT raise their taxes is disingenuous to say the least. Maybe next year they will bow to the Goracle and tax carbon emissions. Or maybe they will up the taxes on alcohol. How about a tax on trans-fat? Or maybe they will put an extra tax on coffee? Who knows? Just because I am not a smoker does not mean that I think it is right to charge them ENORMOUS taxes in order to create bigger government. What's your opinion on this?
SMOKE 'EM IF YA CAN AFFORD 'EM!!!
11 comments:
The most ironic part of it is that while they are relying on these taxes on tobacco products, they are shooting themselves in the foot by all the Quit Smoking programs the government has in place.
This is government at its finest :D
And many of the people who don't smoke will say, "Yeah! Tax the smokers!" When they don't realize that it is only a short time before the tax reaches something they are in to, or a freedom they enjoy.
That is the sneaky part. People will rise up to support something like this, not realizing it really does hinder personal freedom, business, the economy etc. What about all the workers who work in the tobacco industry? If the product is taxed too high, more people will stop and jobs will be lost.
And I say all this as a non-smoker who really hates the smell of smoke. :D
Dammit. Obama's messing with my cigars; now it's PERSONAL!!!!
You buy a lot of rolling papers, Papa?
Yes sir Leslie, helping people quit smoking and improving their health sure is unproductive.
Myself, I'm an ex-smoker. The money that went to feed my two pack a day habit is now going to much more productive investment.
Funny thing about the cigerette tax is it hits Obama's supporters the hardest. There is a higher rate of smoking among the poor, blacks, and Democrats. Most importantly, there is a higher rate of smoking among the uneducated. I think we can all agree that Obama cornered the market on the moron vote.
I've never bought any rolling papers duckling. If you're in need of some maybe you could borrow some from our pot smoking President.
Papa Frank..I've never smoked, but I think this tax is outrageous!
It is just another example of his hypocrisy. I dare say that he will not be deprived of his own pleasure of smoking, since it will be no skin off his..nose..so to speak, with all his ill-gotten gains.
With all the money that Michelle saves on clothing and jewelry, which she gets gratis, I'm sure they'll be able to pay for all the cigarettes Obama can smoke!
Maybe, just maybe, someone will make enough fuss about her freebies, that she will have no choice but to declare them, and pay taxes, the same as any ordinary citizen.
Sorry..but this stuff just makes me sick!
This is one big baby government...and it hasn't even gotten to "solid" food yet...I'm not a smoker either, but this is outrageous!
tmw
Fewer and fewer Americans are smoking. I don't see how this tax is going to fund what it's supposed to fund -- at least, not for long.
Ducky, again you take the comment out of context. The point was that the government is becoming a nanny state telling people how to live their lives and in essence telling people "You're too stupid to make good choices for yourself so we will enact laws to make those good choices for you."
The point was also that while the government raises the taxes on the smokers in order to use that money for programs they want to institute, they are also trying to tell and make people not smoke. If they lose too many smokers where will they get the tax money to fund their programs?
We must not lose sight of the fact that this steals individual freedom. So today it is tobacco products...what will it be tomorrow? And how far do we let the government reach into our own personal lives?
This situations makes me
a) glad I don't smoke
b) feel bad for people who truly are addicted
c) wonder how fast we'll see a rise in the black market for cigarettes
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