Posted on 01/28/2004 10:23:15 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
N.Y. -- In an alliance of strange bedfellows, staunch smoking opponents stood side-by-side this week with merchants who want to sell more cigarettes. The businessmen say their operations are being undercut, sometimes fatally, by Indian vendors who are selling cigarettes to non-Indians in person, over the phone and over the Internet. The Indian retailers are not charging New York's $1.50-a-pack tax on cigarettes, giving their wares a significant price advantage over those sold by non-Indians. The health advocates say they see the eradication of low- or no-tax Indian cigarette sales as a way to cut off the availability of cheap cigarettes and keep cigarettes away from underage smokers. It isn't exactly the most comfortable union, however, and the body language at a news conference in Albany showed it. At one side of the microphone gathered the representatives of the anti-smoking interests - the American Cancer Society, the New York Public Interest Research Group and the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, among them. At the other side were members of "FACT" or the "Fair Application of Cigarette Taxes" group. They include such groups as the state Association of Convenience Stores and the state Association of Wholesale Marketers and Distributors, whose members derive a big share of their income from cigarettes and other tobacco products. They demanded that Gov. George Pataki start collecting the taxes from Indian vendors, as the Legislature directed him to do in 2003. The governor, citing ongoing negotiations with the tribes on taxes and other issues, asked lawmakers last week for permission to put off collections until March 1, 2005. "As Americans, we respect Native American tribes," said Jim Calvin, head of the Association of Convenience Stores. "As business owners, we respect their right to operate commercial enterprises. But those who enjoy the rewards of doing business with New Yorkers bear a responsibility to abide by duly enacted New York standards governing such commerce. It's way past our bedtime on the issue of fair tax enforcement." An economic projection commissioned by the FACT alliance showed that collecting the taxes on Indian sales would drive the sale of about 24 million cartons of cigarettes away from Indian vendors and back to more "conventional" retailers - meaning non-Indian vendors. About 124 million cartons of cigarettes are sold each year in New York, the economic model showed. For their part, the anti-smoking forces stressed the public health aspects of the Indian taxes debate. Higher cigarette prices for some smokers would cause about a 5 percent drop in the number of cigarettes consumed in New York, the Center for a Tobacco Free New York calculated. "While 5 percent doesn't seem like much, a 5 percent drop in tobacco-caused deaths in New York would save 1,250 lives and lead to $215 million in annual Medicaid savings," said Russell Sciandra, head of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York. Money collected through enforcement of the taxes on Indian sales - estimates vary from about $60 million a year to more than $400 million a year - could be spent on cancer prevention, health programs for the uninsured and other public health programs, said Donald Distasio, CEO of the American Cancer Society's eastern division. One tribal official was struck by the incongruity of health advocates lining up with cigarette vendors. Arthur Sugar Montour is a tribal councilor for the Seneca Indian Nation, which has been running television and radio advertisements against collection of the Indian taxes. The Senecas say an 1842 treaty between the tribe and the state prohibits New York from collecting state taxes on Seneca transactions. "For us, it's so unusual to see that the last piece of public sentiment that the Legislature or the Convenience Stores Association are able to use to justify breaking our treaty is the public health issue," Montour said. "These anti-smoking groups have been manipulated into being part of it." Blair Horner, NYPIRG's legislative director, acknowledged that there is a "man-bites-dog" element to the coalition pushing for collection of the cigarette taxes from Indians. "Our interests diverge frequently with the convenience store owners, but when it comes to this issue, we're in agreement," Horner said. "If issues come up in which the Senecas and NYPIRG agree, we'll work with them, too."
Let's make that unlikely alliance even unlikelier - and push Pataki to tax Indian workers in India stealing New York jobs via Tata Consulting in Buffalo.
Sorry NY, there's a Treaty. Haven't you stolen from us enough?
Let's see how the Left deals with this situation when their pet projects combine: 1) Taxes/Theft, 2) Control you/control smokers and 3) Defending minorities.
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