Posted on 04/13/2013 12:09:35 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The Obama budget is finally out and there are, to no surprise, a potpourri of new tax hikes proposed, many of which are aimed at the "wealthy" among us.
Deep within the bowels of the colossal budget, however, lies a proposed tax that targets the poor among us and it is perhaps a precursor of other health-related taxes to come.
President Obama proposes raising the tax on cigarettes from $1.01 to $1.95 per pack--a whopping 93% increase in taxes. The White House estimates that the tax would raise $78.1 billion, of which around $66 billion would be used to fund pre-k education and around $11 billion used for expanded home visits and care for infants and toddlers.
Consider the impact of the tax on the taxpayer. The 93% tax hike per pack of cigarettes affects lower income Americans far more than anyone else, making it a regressive tax.
You see back in 2009, President Obama signed into law another cigarette tax increase and according to a Gallup study done near that time, some 84% of cigarette smokers earn less than $60,000 per year, with 62% of smokers earning less than $36,000/yr.
So, let's do a little math. Suppose someone earns $30,000/year and smokes a pack of cigarettes per day for 365 days a year. The federal taxes he pays in total for the year will jump to $712 from $369--leaving him paying $343 in additional taxes just to smoke. That equates to shaving 1.15% of his income per year, a percentage of which could loom large for someone living paycheck to paycheck, as many are during Obama's presidency.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Your (not you, specifically). insurance company could cancel your policy, refuse to pay, probably go after you for fraud if you lie. There are blood tests and I think urine tests for nicotine.
“Fatal heart attacks, stroke and lung cancer; not so much.”
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You may find this hard to believe but I actually knew lifelong non-smokers who died of heart attacks,strokes,and lung cancer.
Yep,they died.Kaput!
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I didn't smoke when the policy was issued, but the extraordinary pressure on me since this Obamacare thing caused me to take up this terrible habit....I'm a victim you see...
Thanks for the ping!
You are 114 years old and smoke.:-)
Drano blames his bad genes and parents death on cigarettes. Ignore him. He is a witless and very disturbed and angry individual.
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