Posted on 02/04/2009 8:01:45 AM PST by kristinn
Barely two weeks in office, President Barack Hussein Obama will raise taxes this afternoon with his signature on the SCHIP bill scheduled to pass the House of Representatives today.
The reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program includes massive tax increases on cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products. Similar bills were vetoed twice by President George W. Bush in part because of the tax increases. Democrats in the House and Senate have voted overwhelmingly for the tax increases each time the bill was proposed and were joined by a handful of Republicans.
The bill Obama will sign today raises the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes by 62 cents (or $6.20 per carton) bringing the federal tax to $1.01 per pack.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was quoted by the AP as saying of the bill signing, ""It's going to be a happy day for America."
A Heritage Foundation analysis of the bill reported that even with the massive tax increases, 22 million new smokers will be needed to pay for the expansion of SCHIP.
Obama is scheduled to hold a public signing ceremony at 4:30 P.M. today.
Time to quit smoking.
The increased tobacco taxes will reduce consumption. Then where will the government get the tax revenue to pay for SCHIP?
That’ll put the moisture back in the liberals panties, won’t it? Don’t forget . . . Harry Reid said that our tax system is NOT coercive and is totally voluntary . . . so I can’t wait to have my taxes raised . . . I’m happier than a poop-house mouse!
They will take it from everyone’s paycheck.
Democrats don’t mind raising taxes because they never intend to pay them.
This is a tax on the poor people. These are the same folks that voted for him!
Question for Obama: What’s the percentage of welfare and low-income Americcans who smoke?
Headline - “Obama Raises Taxes on Cigarettes: Low Income Americans Hardest Hit!”
I heard this referred to by a news anchor as a “very popular” program. If it’s so damned “popular,” why are smokers being forced into paying for it? A 30 year old is a “children?” Gimme a break! Yeah. A very “happy day for Amerika.” This should be called the illegal alien free healthcare program.
Start smoking everyone, little kiddies depend on you for their government healthcare.
Smoking is the new patriotism!
Thankfully I quit 20 years ago. My primary reason was for the health of my children, especially my youngest who suffered from acute asthma. Secondary to that was the huge tax increase that went into effect January 1989. Now they are at it again. And, who is going to be hit hardest by this tax increase? People living at or below the poverty line.
Has anyone else discussed with a liberal
the fact that taxes are taken at gunpoint?
In my experience, they refuse to acknowledge that their policies are implemented through the threat of deadly force.
He said he was going to “lower taxes for 95% of Americans”.
Another Obama Lie.
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.