Obama to Raise Taxes Today (Harry Reid: "A Happy Day for America")

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | Kristinn

[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.

[MrPiper]

I'm proud to be called a Nazi by those who pimp death or are addicts.

And when Zero puts a 300% food tax on ALL items except beans and rice, what will you say? It is for your health ya know !!!!!!!

[muggs]

actually ... smokers end up costing society less because they are more likely to die earlier of heart attacks.

My sister starts chemo tomorrow morning for lung cancer. She will be costing tax payer a lot because she has no insurance. She still smokes and will be very pissed when she learns her savior caused her cigarettes to increase in price.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I'm proud to be called a Nazi by those who pimp death or are addicts.

So am I. These people who are addicted to controlling other people's private legal behavior "for their own good" are annoying and are a threat to freedom.

[Deetes]

22 million more ,,, LOL ., probably 3 million less after this pile of $%^& !!!

[Las Vegas Ron]

Oh,man, his picture is bad enough but that hurts!

[Eric Blair 2084]

As well as medical expenses associated with smoking and secondhand smoke!

You keep believing the propaganda. My 8 uncles who are in their 70's and 80's who still smoke like chimneys are still collecting your FICA/FUTA payroll taxes you pay in the form of Social Security every month. They thank you. Now get back to work and keep paying.

[Drango]

2084-
After April 1st, your “privilege” of being annoyed will be a lot more expensive. Bummer dude.

[thelastvirgil]

Our genius legislature, in Little Rock, is set to increase the state levy on smokes by over 50 cents per pack. That will increase sales in border states and cause undue hardship on the poor, but gov knows best; pay up and shut up, you losers.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I have no idea what you are talking about. What’s April 1st besides April Fools Day. The day that we get to play tricks on the gullible like libs are playing on you.

I would love to have a normal conversation with you one conservative to another, but alas you seem incapable so far.

Dr. Feel wants to know what your problem is.

[Drango]

April 1st is as you say fools day (fitting) but is also the day the tax kicks.

0

[plain talk]

I am truly saddened to hear about your sister and certainly didn’t mean any offense.

[Eric Blair 2084]

kristinn, you have introduced me to a lot of new things that I had never heard anywhere else since joining FR. I want to return the favor. Have you ever read the anti-tobacco playbook? Here it is in it's naked glory.

The goal is to coerce smokers to quit....by any draconian un-American, anti freedom way necessary. Of course, when that happens progressives will just moveon.org to the next target to bilk. Pick one. Any one.

The interesting show is going to be between liberal clueless state legislators who were convinced that they could hand out as much "free" healthcare as they wanted, but if people can be stopped from smoking, eating, drinking so much....it would save their bacon. (scratch that, make it celery sticks)

Somebody is going to be really upset. Either the states (and now feds) when their revenues dry up or anti-tobacco when sheeple don't quit. Somebody could make a fortune charging $49.95 for that pay per view fight.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I’ll be in the Duty Free shop on a Disney Cruise next week. Find some other sucker to pay your liberal tax.

[Drango]

I’ll be in the Duty Free shop on a Disney Cruise next week

You don't know when April 1st is do you?

[Eric Blair 2084]

BTW, you do notice that you are the only one here who is gleeful about this.

Has it occurred to you that, golly gee willikers, there is something wrong....with YOU?

Seriously.

If you think that coercing people to quit smoking and eat right is a legitimate Government function, than OK. It doesn’t make you an asshole. You may be a great father/mother/husband/wife/son/daughter. You’re entitled to your opinion.

But it certainly doesn’t make you a conservative.

[Eric Blair 2084]

Sure I do. April 1st is tomorrow. I think. Don’t try to trick me. :-)

I plan on buying enough to last till winter. I’m like a squirrel.

[Drango]

you are...gleeful about this

Gleeful? No I'm elated! The estimates are that consumption will drop 3.5-7%. And about 10% for high school/junior high kids, which is where 90% of all new smokers come from. I know it's fashionable for the addicts here to mock "for the children", but some conservatives do actual care about children and don't think they should become slaves to your addiction.

It's just a bonus IMHO that the death pimps here will feel financial pain. Bummer dude.

[I got the rope]

BTTT

[Eric Blair 2084]

You never actually filled out my questionaire in the waiting room. But you have sort of let me know by reading between the lines what your obsession is....I'm a trained professional dealing with mental disorders.

I'm here to help you and provide a public service for a fee. I am a fully trained psychologist specializing in Nanny State Behavior Syndrome (NSBS). This liberal, left wing, social engineering disease is horrible and can strike anyone at anytime. It can even strike Conservatives who believe in free markets and limited government.

Thankfully, Dr. Feel (a wholly owned subsiduary of Dr. Phil) is here to help you work through your problems.

Please answer the questionaire below, so I know how best to treat you. And please have your insurance card ready for the wallet biopsy. This is a Capitalist country and I don't work for free.

I discriminate against smokers because:

A. The smell of smoke is icky and yucky, it makes my hair and clothes stink and I hate walking into a bar/restaurant where people are smoking. So rather than take advantage of the free market and go somewhere that is voluntarily smoke free, I would rather use the power of the state to impose my personal preference on my fellow citizens.

A1. My __________ (choose one: Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt, Grandfather, Grandmother, older sister, brother, babysitter, next door neighbor, mailman) abused me by smoking ________(choose one: Marlboro, Merit, Kool, crack, Camel, Kent, marijuana) in the __________ (choose one: house, car, bar, juvenile detention center) when I was a kid.

B. My beloved ___________ (choose one: husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, maid, dog, cat, goldfish, gay lover) died from _________(choose one: cancer, heart disease, emphysema, car crash, train wreck, terrorist attack, sting ray) because of their smoking.

C. I smoked for _____ (years) and now I am ________ (choose one: missing it, sick, dead, born again, enlightened, ashamed of myself, if I can't do it, nobody can) and want to share my experience with others.

D. The Big Tobacco companies are lying scumbags and must pay! (you're not coming down off the mountain with the tablets there)

E. I represent Big Pharmaceutical interests that benefit from the anti-smoking movement because it increases the sales of our Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products.

F. I am a deeply caring individual in the mold of Mother Theresa and I am speaking out due to my benevolent, philanthropic, altruistic concern about the health of my fellow man.

G. I am a research scientist and grant junky, and if I don't tow the party line my grant money will disappear.

H. I'm just a garden variety Fascist and Totalitarian and get a ______ (choose one: cheap thrill, natural high, erection, orgasm) by imposing my will on other people.

I. I am a retard who believes in bogus studies, junk science, the Easter Bunny and the Toothfairy. I fear that because I walked into a bar on Spring Break in 1987, and was exposed to Second Hand Smoke I now suffer from ______(choose one: AIDS, Herpes, Athletes Foot, Jock Itch, male pattern baldness, or genital warts)

J. I am a disgruntled, prissy and angry employee of a ______(choose one: bar, restaurant, club, casino) who can't leave the job because I am a _______(choose one: slave, indentured servant, sweatshop laborer, illegal immigrant) and had no idea there was smoking going on in the place before I took the job.

K. An elected public serpent, serving as a _____ (choose one: State Assemblywoman, Senator, Freeholder, city councilman, mayor) and I have failed miserably in my job and trying to tackle really tough problems like _____ (choose one: gang violence, income taxes, property taxes, crime, corruption), so I will support a smoking ban based on the talking points and literature that "M" has given me and claim that I have actually accomplished something to help my constituents.

L. A Socialist liberal Democrat who is desperate for Universal Healthcare so the proletariet will continue to keep me in power. But if I don't do something about the "demand side" health care costs caused by such global health menaces as _________ (choose one: Marlboro, Merit, Kool, Big Macs, Whoppers, Chicken McNuggets, Budweiser, Coors, Jack Daniels) my health care entitlement program will go ________ (choose your adjective: broke, belly up, bankrupt, insolvent).

M. A professional anti-tobacco activist who makes $450,000 per year. MY GOAL IS TO REDUCE SMOKING RATES FROM 25% TO BELOW 10%. KICKING THEM OUT OF THEIR FAVORITE BAR AND RESTAURANT IS JUST A SMALL STEP TO COERCE THEM TO QUIT. I DON'T EVEN BELIEVE THE SHS NONSENSE MYSELF! Don't you dare try to ban cigarettes, if you do I will have to go back to my previous job ______(choose one: prostitute, drug dealer, pimp, state assemblyman, mayor) where I won't make nearly as much money and the bank will foreclose on my seaside villa and repo my _______(choose one: Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Hummer, Infiniti, Acura,Jaguar, Volvo, Bentley). I take advantage of the prejudices of categories A-L above to accomplish my goal.

N. I am a Religious Fundamentalist who believes that smoking is strictly forbidden in the ______(choose one: Qu'ran, Bible, Torah, Old Testament, New Testament, David Wells' autobiography "Perfect I'm Not", Hustler Magazine)

O. I don't fit any of the above categories, I just like to argue with people.

You are definitely 90% B with a touch of misguided F thrown in.

Why can't you open up and share? Dr. Feel is here to help.

[Eric Blair 2084]

GOP, I need your keen feminine instincts to confirm what I suspect. I think Drango and the banned Whee are one and the same.

I purposely put this on the public forum because I don’t talk about people behind their back.

It’s pretty obvious to me. The one sentence response to everyone. The inability to communicate. The single minded unexplained psychosis. Mindless posting of any pic found on google.

I am trained to spot these kinds of frauds.

I won’t even tell him what gave him away.