The various tea parties, if they wanted the backing of a Ferrerman, would do well to address the ridiculous taxation of cigarettes, particularly in Chicago, that hotbed of Black, community activists who go on to become President Of The United States. It would seem to be right in their wheelhouse because the "TEA" in Tea Party allegedly means: Taxed Enough Already.
Sin taxes are the epitome of lazy government. Raising taxes on cigarettes or alcohol is phoning in government. They are barely giving a nod to the heroic "saving of lives..." anymore. You think cigarettes kill? You want to save the lives of men, women and children? MAKE CIGARETTES ILLEGAL. How can you tax/profit off of something that kills people? (Well, see: guns & ammo but, story for another day! Could you imagine the uproar if ammunition was taxed like smokes!)
Why pussyfoot around with saving lives lip service by allowing a product that people evidently like and want, when it kills people? Why are cigarettes so dangerous that they can only be battled via taxes? Why aren't cities and states legalizing crack, meth and heroin and taxing those things to save lives? And, uh, make a few bucks....
Mayor Rahm Emmanuel wants to raise the city tax on a pack of smokes $.75 making the total tax on a pack $7.42. That includes state, federal, county and city taxes. So, with cigarette company costs/profits, and the store's markup- you are paying @$11.59 for a pack of Marlboros? Most of your expenditure for that tar and nicotine pleasure goes, not to Liggett Myers but, to various governments that want you to quit....for your own good...
I guess they want you to quit so they can tax something else?
The government never- EVER- says that not enough people are quitting smoking so, because of that failure of the people, government is forced to raise the cigarette tax- AGAIN- to encourage people quit....
They never say that. Actually, people quitting is part of the reason they meed to raise the tax. There's some yada-yada in there about health related costs but, they barely go through the motions about that because, the money doesn't go to healthcare. It goes to running the broke-ass cities and states. Except for millionaires, when do taxes ever go down? If a city or state is used to getting income from something, they budget for that. If income goes down because more people stop using the taxed product, that money has to be made up somewhere. They either also tax something else and/or they raise the tax on that product.
With cigarettes and other sin taxes, it's a no-brainer. No one speaks for the smokers and the drinkers who get taxed every time they turn around. Having no voice themselves, they just roll with it. Or roll their own....
Golly! If only there were a political group- focused on unfair taxation- to speak for these disenfranchised folk! If only...
Apparently, the Koch brothers don't smoke. They founded and fund some of the tea parties. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: They are billionaires- they can well afford to smoke! They probably quit when they were millionaires and, with the money saved, became billionaires.
Yet they are against taxes. It's just that one of the most egregious taxes of all goes unnoticed by them for some reason. Mind you, this is not a Chicago or Illinois thing. Prices and taxes vary. That same pack of Marlboros will cost about $5 in Kentucky, the lowest of the 48 contiguous states and, a tobacco growing state. Less that ten years ago I did some work outside Louisville and paid $2 a pack. Even the tobacco friendly states are getting in on the gravy train of saving lives through taxation.
This is why I cannot take the tea parties seriously. Fighting to keep the super rich from being taxed "too much"(?!) but completely ignoring the near-sodomizing tax of the poor and working class because they smoke? By default they must think the sin taxes are just and fair. I'm certain some smoke and must be aware of the taxes. They simply must not care. I wonder what they might tax if they were ever to gain control of government? My guess is, anything but wealth.
8 comments:
byline: Deer Whisperer/Luke
OH MY!
It appears that the birth of a populist, radical, subversive Smoke'm-if-ya-gott'em Party is occurring right before my very eyes!
Now, it'll all come tumblin' down for sure!
HA! No. But, this is an abusive, discriminatory tax that they should be fighting tooth and nail. It's also very weak, lazy government. Taxing booze or smokes is too easy because not only are these folks not organized, there's a sort of guilt associated with smoking and drinking that even the participants recognize. Wait and see how the states handle pot as more legalize it. Taxes will drive it underground again.
The irony is that the states. cities and the federal government are addicted to cigarette taxes. They'll never let them go. Tax junkies....
Cigarettes cost THAT much? Ouch!
Yep. In cities like New York and Chicago, you pay more in taxes than the product itself costs. If only there were a political party dedicated to battling unfair taxes....
byline: Deer Whisperer/Luke
Well, it begs some questions ---
1) if it was just born, do I get the nod for the Indiana chapter?
for years, folk living near the Ohio River make it over to KY for supplies (of course, there were occasional nabs of 'over the limit' whatever that was). I think KY is still the leader for cheapest smokes, but they've increased in price too, if I recall correctly.
2) are there about 3 levels of quality/price where you are? I've tried the cheaper brands, but man are they harsh. So I'm in the middle instead of the premium brand level.
3) have you thought of trying those 'e cigarettes'?
4) wonder if taxes, other than sales tax, are applied to same 'e cigarettes'?
i haven't seen the e-cigarette in action. Evidently there's several versions. Some people are happy with it. It's interesting though that, though it's smokeless, some are still *offended* by it and others want to figure out a way to tax it like tobacco! And ban it from bars, public areas where actual smoking is banned.
I barely smoke anymore. The past several years I had been down to a pack a day and then 3-4 packs a week. Not bad. Smoke less and appreciate it more. Yep, there's the good/better/best. Some of the cheap brands are awful! Not worth it. I'm in the middle too. I'm not in the city so, we're taxed at a lower rate though the lady in charge of the county taxes is every bit as lazy as Rahm. The further you get away from any big city, the cheaper things get.
Indiana and Wisconsin aren't that much cheaper for me but, city folk will *bootleg* like that. The hypocrisy of officials whining about losing tax dollars by people shopping out of state really pisses me off! The taxes are too high! DUH!
What most don't know or care to look up, is that taxes were one of the very first things to be put into the constitution when it was drawn up. Nothing specific, just that congress had the power to make them. The states were charged in collecting them, (hence the disparity of a pack of cigs from state to state) and it's still done that way to this day. Try telling a tea bagger that taxes are legal and it's in the constitution and watch their head explode. It's fun.
Obviously we need taxes and everybody wants that money to be well spent. Most of us believe that that means social services. Those of us who CAN think about it, are sick of corporations free-loading and depending on US to pick up the tab for the working poor's healthcare and literal welfare. Pay Americans for work so we don't have to pay welfare.
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