Tobacco Tempts States in Financial Need/ Settlement Funds, Tax Increases Help Make Ends Meet

But as states confront their worst budget crises in a decade, tobacco often has been a savior. Eleven states this year have raised their cigarette taxes, and more than a dozen others are considering doing the same.

And to the chagrin of those who fought for the multi-state settlement with tobacco companies -- which was intended to spread an estimated $246 billion to states over 25 years -- some states are regularly trading future payments from that settlement for cash now. This money was not intended to be expended by the state's leadership any way it wants," said Mary Soper, executive director of the Tobacco-Free Michigan Action Coalition, which is helping with the initiative. "It was intended to go towards health and health-related issues."

NO ONE is more hooked on Tobacco than Government.

Exactly right.

They found a honey pot to feed from, and no matter what they say about wanting to reduce tobacco usage, they really don't. A lot of lawmakers are talking out of both sides of their mouths.

If Bloomberg REALLY wanted to reduce tobacco usage, he would have the raised the taxes 250%! He might be an idiot, but he's not a "stupid" idiot.

Some states have redirected the stream of money from tobacco settlements, which anti-smoking advocates had expected to tap for decades to try to get smokers to quit and persuade nonsmokers not to start.

"It's happening all over the country," said Eric N. Lindblom, manager of policy research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington. "Roughly speaking, states are only getting 40 cents on the dollar on those deals. And they're stealing money from future budgets."

Boo hoo, Eric. How's it feel? You were all for stealing money from smokers' budgets to fund your Smoking Nazi sinecure.

Guess you and your buddies might have to look for a real job sometime down the road.

Oh well, there's always "Big Food" to go after.

They (government statists, anti smoking nazis)could be accused of being hypocrites if they were truly concerned about the alleged health dangers of smoking, but they are not concerned about these alleged dangers.

This tobacco "settlement" proves this fact: if they were so concerned about the alleged health dangers of smoking, they would not become a "stockholder," in effect, of these tobacco companies, "stockholders" who will financially benefit from the future sale of cigarettes, bringing them the billions of dollars in extorted booty, billions which will come at the price of the health and well-being of millions who statists claim are being damaged by smoking.

There are those who advise us to follow the money trail to explain the motives of statists in their attacks against tobacco, but money isn’t what they are after either.

Ultimately and fundamentally, they are only interested in power, power over you. Money looted from the treasuries of such companies as tobacco manufacturers has only one interest to statists: it helps fund their efforts to gain more power. They will eventually arrive at some point in the future where they will have the political support, if our current trend continues, to shut these tobacco companies down, long before they collect all of the billions coming to them, and they will do so with great glee, cheerfully surrendering the billions, because it will mean they will have finally arrived at the point where their supremacy and power will be virtually unchallenged and unstoppable.

How many other products do individuals consume or use on a habitual basis, the consumption or use of which would be difficult for them to stop? Depending on the individual, there are all sorts of habits which might be difficult to break: drinking coffee, drinking alcohol, eating chocolate, eating too much food, watching TV, surfing the Internet and the list can go on endlessly. Are these products or activities going to someday become the target of some statist? Yes, if statists have their way. They will attempt to regulate any activity in your life that might be called "addictive."

LINK to entire essay these excerpts are from. Very long but worthy read.

NON SMOKERS - DO YOU WANT STAND BY AND WATCH WITH AMUSEMENT?
THEY"RE COMING FOR YOU TOO.

Susan Shafer, a spokeswoman for Engler, said the effort is a money grab by private groups. If approved, the initiative would direct $45 million of the state's annual payment to a fund to be run by a new organization comprising the health groups leading the effort. Only 10 percent would go to the general fund, effectively killing the scholarship program.

"There will be some opposition from people who like the way we're currently spending the money," Shafer said. "There is no reason to put this money basically into the hands of private corporations that will have no state oversight."

Ah yes, let's watch the states and the private non-profit anti-smoker organizations fight it out over the money from the sttlement.
Who do you think will win. (Who makes the rules?)

what kind of tobacco do you use? Is it anything like Marlboro?

Hi there! I buy tobacco that is menthol and Bubba buys tobacco that is regular.

This is what mine looks like, green for menthol. Bubba's comes in a bag that is red, for regular. $5.75 a bag.

The tobacco is packaged at a New Jersey plant and the tobacco comes from over seas. The name on the bad says "Hi-Val," and is premium tobacco.

Hopes this helps.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.