Huntsman wants to push cigarette tax to $3 (Utah)

Salt Lake Truibune ^ | 1/07/09 | Robert Gehrke

[WellyP]

Make it $5.00 and I am onboard!

[SoDak]

Using the power of taxation to control and alter people and society is just as wrong no matter if there’s an R or a D after the name that signs the bill. What the *&^% is happening to this country?

[KevinDavis]

Why???

[mysterio]

I’m not in Utah, but my state won’t be getting another dime for tobacco from me. Glad to be out of that game. They can fund their programs on someone else’s back.

[Gaffer]

Sorry, you bunch of money-grubbing bastards, but if you really want to raise cash, forget about smokes - go for a $4 tax on those Starbucks mokochokeoh vente grande lattes!

The smokers are a depleting resource - most low income, eventually will quit/die/go bankrupt(and get subsidized). These Starbucks mokochokeoh vente grande latte fart-smelling asswipes got money! They must have to be constantly interfering with everybody else's life.

[microgood]

There is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats any more. They are both enemies of the people.

[colorcountry]

if you really want to raise cash, forget about smokes - go for a $4 tax on those Starbucks mokochokeoh vente grande lattes!

Starbucks? in Utah??? LOL The majority dislikes coffee as much as cigarettes.

[FrankR]

More of the libs unintended consequences at work...they sue the tobacco firms, mount a huge "quit smoking" campaign, and outlaw smoking everywhere, then think that taxing it is going to save their butts.

I would almost bet that once he gets this tobacco tax passed, and they see it's not filling their "void", they will either forget about getting rid of the food tax, or reinstate it.

That's the biggest fear of the "fair tax"...the fear that they will change to it, and then re-add the regular income tax to it.

Plus, for the state it's a lose-lose situation...IF...as they say "all smokers die young"...then their revenue source would be perpetually dying out.

[bassmaner]

It’s BS like this that makes folks that are not political junkies think that Republicans are hypocrites ... so much for small government and individual liberty.

[albie]

Tax ice cream. Utah has the highest per capita ice cream sales in the country. Raise it $2 a scoop. Then people can be taxed thin.

[Gaffer]

Maybe not Utah and I thought about it. However, the place in this case is really immaterial. The taxing sentiments are ubiquitous throughout this country as are Starbucks locations.

[albie]

This makes the Gov a hero to Mormons. Utah has one of the lowest cigarette sales in the country. Smokers are nasty sub-humans in the eyes of a Mormon.

[Old Professer]

Who smokes in Utah?

[Gaffer]

"Smokers are nasty sub-humans in the eyes of a Mormon."

They gonna be sorry when they find out God smoke Camels.....

[compman]

Ok, they say with every 10% increase in the tax, the smoking rates for youth go down 6.5% and 2% for adults. So, they are going to raise the tax 400%, so the effective smoking rates should go down 240% and 80% respectively. How do they come up with actually taking in more money when there will basically be no smokers left? Also, how do you stop youth smoking by 240%? Once again, their numbers lie, lie, lie.

[DustyMoment]

Why stop at $3.00?

Why not $5.00? Or $10.00? Heck, let’s use all of his political capital and make it $25.00.

The question is, when you tax cigarettes out of existence, how will you recoup the lost tax revenue?

I’m sick of political morons who have no business in elected office.

[randog]

...my state won’t be getting another dime for tobacco from me. Glad to be out of that game.

Same here. Nevada took the tobacco lawsuit money and gave it to the universities instead of health care, promising every h.s. graduate a college scholarship if they could fog a mirror. Worked out great until the money started to dwindle after a few years. Amazing how politicians tax tobacco to force people to quit and then complain that they're not getting enough money from tobacco taxes after people are forced to quit.

[Hoffer Rand]

More of the libs unintended consequences at work...

Yup. I wonder if that $120-150 million figure they're throwing around includes the decreased number of smokers. FYI, what they aren't mentioning in this article about their decrease of the food tax is that when they dropped the tax on groceries, they raised the tax on "prepared" food, so eating out became more expensive. Nice, huh?

[darkangel82]

Huntsman is just Arnold-lite anyway.