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One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.Generally speaking, liberals demand leniency toward the shortcomings of the poor. If poor people commit crimes, well, we have to look at the "root causes," say the liberals. The poor get hooked on drugs? Give them treatment, not prison, the liberals say.
The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.
This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.
Smoking, however, is something different. With cigarettes, even the sainted poor are targeted. Liberal hatred of smokers is a monomania that has never been adequately explained. Basic economics tells you that the punitive taxation rates will be self-defeating in terms of the revenue generated; by driving up prices, they'll reduce sales. One can only speculate that the liberal war on tobacco is motivated by the liberal's desire to boss people around.
Boss people around, sure.
ReplyDeleteBut anyone lighting up falls prey to an "Alinsky Rule 12" call. Double points if you're Rush Limbaugh.
The irony mounts, though.
The lefties tax you for your sins now, tax you for health care, and then laugh when your choices foreshorten your lifespan.
It might be more profitable to grow your own tobacco instead of pot to sell anymore..
ReplyDeleteNever forget that the Government led by A. Hitler wouldn't allow smoking in government buildings or his presence. More than a coincidence?
ReplyDeleteThe amazing thing is that when people actually cut their smoking or quit all together, the geniuses wonder where all that extra tax revenue that they estimated went. UP IN SMOKE! But, one has to think like a lefty for raising "sin" taxes to make sense. Oops! My head is hurting real bad trying to think like a lefty!
ReplyDeleteSmoking ties the activity to a politburo approved black hat. The purpose of the bill is to run that bastard, Big Tobacco, out of town on a rail.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that addicts will cut out on the celery and tomato juice in order to afford the extra $4 per week for cigarettes, and Big Tobacco makes the same exact profit they did before doesn't really phase the argument. Like the suicide bombers who schedule bombings for prayer hours, rationalizing that good muslims wouldn't be at the market when they should be at prayer, the approved thinking is that if it hurts poor people, maybe it will encourage them to give up such a disgusting habit.
In the meantime, the government actually becomes dependent on the tax revenues from this vice, so that if tobacco sales actually fall, the government suffers. It provides a reverse incentive to actually achieve the stated objective of the tax.
They will also make the Russian Mob rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
ReplyDeleteStealing just fifty cases of butts (2500 cartons) affords $100K++ in gross revenues. Take out a few bucks for labor, fuel, parking-lot rents...