Posted on 07/17/2007 4:36:34 PM PDT by goldstategop
RUSH: Jerry in Scottsdale, Arizona, hello, sir.
CALLER: Morning, Rush. How are you doing?
RUSH: I'm fine.
CALLER: Let's get straight to it. The source of the controversy in the Democrat Congress was proposing to raise a tax on cigars to $10 per cigar --
RUSH: Yes?
CALLER: -- to raise $35 to $50 billion for state children's health insurance.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: It's "for the children."
RUSH: It's for the children. In the name of saving the children, big government has targeted yet another industry to destroy.
CALLER: So the Winston Churchill that I just started smoking cigars with is going to go from $10 to $20 each.
RUSH: Oh, I know. The maximum cigar tax will be $10 a cigar. It's now at 5¢. The cigar industry as a percentage of the whole tobacco industry is like 2%, if that. This cigar tax increase is sort of hidden in here. Well, it's not hidden anymore, but the bill is written to make it look like it's really a tax that's targeted on cigarettes. The tax on cigarettes will go up a dollar a pack from what it is now -- and the cigar thing is even worse, from 5¢ to $10 -- to pay for kids' health care. Cigars have long been ignored as a source of revenue because compared to cigarettes and other tobacco products, there aren't that many of them sold. Somebody has figured out here that there's a whole lot of money to be made. Children's health care? I thought the tobacco settlements and all the taxes now were used and being directed to children's health care programs. I guess this is children's insurance. There's also -- and I'm not sure about this. The markup on this bill is still happening, but I think, in addition to the $10 a cigar tax, which is going to people these people out of business. It will be like the thing they did on the yachts, the luxury tax.
It'll put these people out of business. People will go elsewhere to find cigars. They'll find 'em. They'll find a way to do 'em. They'll find a way to get 'em to avoid paying this US tax. I'm still checking this out, but I think in addition to the per-stick tax, manufacturers as of January '08 next year, if this thing becomes law, are going to have a 50% tax on their current inventory that's all on the floor of the warehouse, before it gets to the retailers. I'm still checking this, but this is one of the bullet points that I got from somebody who analyzed the bill. So if a cigar company has a million dollars in inventory cigars, then before those cigars can leave for retail he has to pay $500,000 to the United States Treasury -- and this is Democrats, folks. This is who they are. I was telling somebody about this last night. They said, "Why are they doing this?"
"They're Democrats! They raise taxes."
This friend said, "No, this is aimed at you. You're the best known cigar smoker in the country. This is like the Limbaugh tax."
It's more than that. These people are trying to put the tobacco business out of business without doing it via legislation under the guys of doing it "for the children." This is what liberalism is. This is what Democrats do. They target businesses that they don't like and they use government to harm 'em, maybe even destroy 'em.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I am getting really sick of them saying this is for the children. Yeah right. We should now demand that they give us proof of exactly where the taxes are go. I know they will probably try to weasel out of it; but I am pretty comfortable in thinking the taxes are not going to the children.
I smell graft.
BLOGACT. Buy lots of guns, ammo, & cigars today.
I guess when President Clinton used cigars the Dimocraps didn’t care about the children?
This sounds like economic opportunity to me. If they don’t enforce the law against illegal cigars any better than they do against illegal immigrants, then cigar smuggling looks like a smart career move.
Well, there wasn't any second hand smoke.
Now...about the Pelosi Botox tax!
If they really wanted to do something “for the children”, they would outlaw abortion.
I buy my cigars online. I know it’s only a matter of time before they are taxed and restricted to the point where I just quit. But, until then, this is what I got in an email from cigarsinternational:
ACTION ALERT FOR ALL CIGAR ENTHUSIASTS!
Currently before the United States Senate is a proposal to fund health insurance on the backs of tobacco products to the tune of $35 billion (that’s Billion with a B). Most egregious is the proposed tax rate on cigars of 53.1%, including a breathtaking 20,400% increase in the cap. This would make handmade cigars - a true mom-and-pop industry, a product enjoyed by choice an average 3 times per week - the single largest excise taxed item in the entire Internal Revenue Code....by a long shot.
This piece of legislation is called SCHIP (State Childrens Health Insurance Plan). Tonight this bill is being marked up in the Senate Finance Committee and is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote as early as end of week. We urge you to call both of your U.S. Senators today and express your opposition to funding “SCHIP legislation” with punitive cigar taxes. As a constituent your voice will be heard. Please see phone numbers below for your Senators.
Sincerely,
Keith Meier
Cigars International
List of United States Senators Office Phone Numbers
Alabama
Sen. Richard C. Shelby 202-224-5744
Sen. Jeff Sessions 202-224-4124
Alaska
Sen. Ted Stevens 202-224-3004
Sen. Lisa Murkowski 202-224-6665
Arizona
Sen. John McCain 202-224-2235
Sen. Jon L. Kyl 202-224-4521
Arkansas
Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln 202-224-4843
Sen. Mark Pryor 202-224-2353
California
Sen. Dianne Feinstein 202-224-3841
Sen. Barbara Boxer 202-224-3553
Colorado
Sen. Wayne Allard 202-224-5941
Sen. Ken Salazar 202-224-5852
Connecticut
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd 202-224-2823
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman 202-224-4041
Delaware
Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 202-224-5042
Sen. Thomas R. Carper 202-224-2441
Florida
Sen. Bill Nelson 202-224-5274
Sen. Mel Martinez 202-224-3041
Georgia
Sen. Saxby Chambliss 202-224-3521
Sen. Johnny Isakson 202-224-3643
Hawaii
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye 202-224-3934
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka 202-224-6361
Idaho
Sen. Larry E. Craig 202-224-2752
Sen. Mike Crapo 202-224-6142
Illinois
Sen. Richard J. Durbin 202-224-2152
Sen. Barack Obama 202-224-2854
Indiana
Sen. Richard G. Lugar 202-224-4814
Sen. Evan Bayh 202-224-5623
Iowa
Sen. Charles E. Grassley 202-224-3744
Sen. Tom Harkin 202-224-3254
Kansas
Sen. Sam Brownback 202-224-6521
Sen. Pat Roberts 202-224-4774
Kentucky
Sen. Mitch McConnell 202-224-2541
Sen. Jim Bunning 202-224-4343
Louisiana
Sen. Mary Landrieu 202-224-5824
Sen. David Vitter 202-224-4623
Maine
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe 202-224-5344
Sen. Susan M. Collins 202-224-2523
Maryland
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski 202-224-4654
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin 202-224-4524
Massachusetts
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy 202-224-4543
Sen. John F. Kerry 202-224-2742
Michigan
Sen. Carl Levin 202-224-6221
Sen. Debbie A. Stabenow 202-224-4822
Minnesota
Sen. Norm Coleman 202-224-5641
Sen. Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244
Mississippi
Sen. Thad Cochran 202-224-5054
Sen. Trent Lott 202-224-6253
Missouri
Sen. Christopher S. “Kit” Bond 202-224-5721
Sen. Claire C. McCaskill 202-224-6154
Montana
Sen. Max Baucus 202-224-2651
Sen. Jon Tester 202-224-2644
Nebraska
Sen. Chuck Hagel 202-224-4224
Sen. Ben Nelson 202-224-6551
Nevada
Sen. Harry Reid 202-224-3542
Sen. John Ensign 202-224-6244
New Hampshire
Sen. Judd Gregg 202-224-3324
Sen. John E. Sununu 202-224-2841
New Jersey
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg 202-224-3224
Sen. Robert Menendez 202-224-4744
New Mexico
Sen. Pete V. Domenici 202-224-6621
Sen. Jeff Bingaman 202-224-5521
New York
Sen. Charles E. Schumer 202-224-6542
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 202-224-4451
North Carolina
Sen. Elizabeth Dole 202-224-6342
Sen. Richard Burr 202-224-3154
North Dakota
Sen. Kent Conrad 202-224-2043
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan 202-224-2551
Ohio
Sen. George V. Voinovich 202-224-3353
Sen. Sherrod Brown 202-224-2315
Oklahoma
Sen. James M. Inhofe 202-224-4721
Sen. Tom Coburn 202-224-5754
Oregon
Sen. Ron Wyden 202-224-5244
Sen. Gordon Smith 202-224-3753
Pennsylvania
Sen. Arlen Specter 202-224-4254
Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. 202-224-6324
Rhode Island
Sen. Jack Reed 202-224-4642
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse 202-224-2921
South Carolina
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham 202-224-5972
Sen. Jim DeMint 202-224-6121
South Dakota
Sen. Tim Johnson 202-224-5842
Sen. John R. Thune 202-224-2321
Tennessee
Sen. Lamar Alexander 202-224-4944
Sen. Bob Corker 202-224-3344
Texas
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 202-224-5922
Sen. John Cornyn 202-224-2934
Utah
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch 202-224-5251
Sen. Robert Bennett 202-224-5444
Vermont
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy 202-224-4242
Sen. Bernard Sanders 202-224-5141
Virginia
Sen. John W. Warner 202-224-2023
Sen. James Webb 202-224-4024
Washington
Sen. Patty Murray 202-224-2621
Sen. Maria Cantwell 202-224-3441
West Virginia
Sen. Robert C. Byrd 202-224-3954
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV 202-224-6472
Wisconsin
Sen. Herbert H. Kohl 202-224-5653
Sen. Russ Feingold 202-224-5323
Wyoming
Sen. Craig Thomas 202-224-6441
Sen. Michael B. Enzi 202-224-3424
if this thing becomes law, are going to have a 50% tax on their current inventory that's all on the floor of the warehouse, before it gets to the retailers.
All people in business, and that's everyone not sucking on the government tit, should take this as an attack on themselves. If this is allowed to stand, who is next?
I think we need a $20 tax on lattes and frappes and up the tax on Volvos and Birkenstocks and brie by at least 200%.....that would raise billions and really PO the liberals. Better yet tax burqas and Korans.
I propose instead a $10 per wrapper tax on cigarette rolling papers. I think most of the stuff in the “roll your own” cigs is weed, and not tobaco. So that ought to hit the liberal loons pretty hard. Potheads, most of ‘em.
And we can spend the money “for the children” in the form of school vouchers to let those kids leave the public indoctrination centers and get an actual education at their choice of private schools.
Let’s see ... where can we find other products with predominantly liberals as customers ?
How about a nice big tax on newspapers with more than 50 pages ? A $10 tax on the LA Times, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. No tax on the much briefer small-town newspapers favored by conservatives. Surely, that will be OK as long as we do it “for the children”, right ?
And, hey, it doesn’t even have to be a tax. How about we get comprehensive video footage of protest marches, and then hit each one that litters during the march with the maximum fine ? Usually $500 per offense. Not many conservatives out marching in protest rallies, so that ought to hit the liberals almost exclusively. (Actually, I’m amazed I don’t see cops actively pursuing litterers as a cash cow instead of wasting their time writing speeding tickets.)
If only we could tax stupidity, we’d have an endless supply of money “for the children” that would hit liberals the hardest.
Ooh, I like that idea!
ping!
If this does not bring in the amount wanted, have the congress forfeit their pay until it does.
Going after Fred Thompson are they?
I didn’t think there were enough cigar smokers out there to be significant anyway. I hardly ever see them anymore.
Yup, I got the same email. My problem? I’ve got Obama and Durbin for my Senators....nuff said.
“Yup, I got the same email. My problem? I’ve got Obama and Durbin for my Senators....nuff said.”
Voinovich and Brown here. I can relate.
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