"Good news for us. Thanks NY State government!"
Posted on 06/19/2010 4:26:36 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Cigarette taxes in New York would jump by $1.60 a pack under a tentative deal reached between Gov. David A. Paterson and legislative leaders, which would give New York the nation’s highest state cigarette taxes.
The proposal, which officials said Mr. Paterson would include in an emergency budget bill due for a vote on Monday, would also raise wholesale taxes on other tobacco products like chewing tobacco, bringing the tax on those products closer in line with those of cigarettes.
In New York City, which levies steep taxes of its own on tobacco products, a pack of cigarettes would come with a tax of $5.85, making it the nation’s first city to break $5, antismoking advocates said. That would bring the overall cost of a pack of premium cigarettes above $10 in many stores in the city.
The legislation will also include a plan to begin collecting taxes on cigarettes sold off the reservation by Indian tribes in New York, an issue that has provoked confrontations between State Police officers and protesting tribe members in years past.
The proposal would generate $440 million in revenue this year, helping close a state budget gap estimated at over $9 billion. But it is unclear whether there are enough votes to approve the plan in the State Senate, where Republicans have threatened to vote against any emergency budget bill that includes tax increases and some Democrats oppose efforts to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by the tribes.
Should the measure fail, the government would face an unprecedented shutdown. Should it pass, lawmakers must still meet to find ways to close the entire budget gap.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So, what are they going to do when all of New York’s smokers finally quit because they can’t afford to anymore?
I live in a fairly rural area. Farm land is being sold for McMansionvilles. And previous city dwellers were buying them. It’s sometimes hysterically funny to watch them. They’d butcher their grass, cutting it very short so they didn’t have to mow so often. Then they’d weep because it burned and turned yellow. They also wanted sidewalks put in a tiny village with one store and a post office so that kids didn’t walk in the road to get to either. If they didn’t speed around and actually did the speed limit, they wouldn’t have to worry. The oldtimers laughed at them and they did NOT get their sidewalks. LOL
I sent a letter to RJ Reynolds when the government shakedown over tobacco settlements were going on. I told them that they should admit that they're bad, and that to make up for it, they would no longer sell any tobacco products in the US, they would close down their factories, and stop buying tobacco from American farmers, due to the health problems associated with their products.
THAT'S how they should have reacted, and I would have LOVED to see the pols scream about the lost tax revenue and jobs.
Mark
The new price of a pack of cigarettes will soar past $10 in Manhattan.
The majority of your fellow constituents did.
And that's the way it is - I would think about moving. - I did.
I think Rush suggested (tongue in cheek?) a while back that people be forced to buy cigarettes, whether they smoke or not -- after all, it's "for the children"!
Hubby's job is here. And you don't move when there are no jobs elsewhere.
Images of Indian tribes facing off with police and national guard will do wonders for the NY government.
The incentive for bootleggers of tobacco, hauling in cigarettes purchased by the case lots in North Carolina, has suddenly gone up sharply.
One thing for sure, the North Carolina state treasury will probably gross far more from perfectly legal cigarette sales than the New York state treasury. People will either severely curtail the habit, stop smoking altogether, or seek access to the bootleg supply.
Just a preview of the chaos that Bam intends to cause.
Back in the era when smoking was safe we paid $.90 a CARTON for smokes or were given them free on airplanes. Oh tempo, oh mores!
You're still there, aren't you?
I left that hell hole for Texas decades ago ... and never looked back.
I am glad to see the self rightous state be shown for what it truly is: a taxing monster. Anyone who thought they were raising the price of smokes to lessen the number of people smoking is an idiot...the idea was to raise money, period, end of story.
So is my husbands job. You don't just leave when so many are out of work.
There was a long story in the Philly Inquirer a few years ago about the outlets for cigarettes, booze and lottery tickets in DE just across the river from NJ.
Vehicles with out of state plates filled the parking lot, these people weren’t buying a pack of cigarettes, think many cartons. One outfit even place 1/4 page ads and that’s not cheap.
Don’t know if DE has allowed betting on NFL games yet, it’s on the books if they want. NFL has no leverage with DE. No teams, no TV stations and you can get all the radio stations you desire from Philly, Baltimore and even NYC if you have a good location.
Whoever suggested cigarettes coming from NC is talking about small truckloads, like a large U-haul. They used to drop the untaxed stuff off in case lots in the major east coast cities.
"Good news for us. Thanks NY State government!"
“I see Freepers post this all the time. I live in NY. I didn’t vote for these clowns. Did I get the government I wanted? “
Same here. I see this idiotic statement and variations on the theme often and it is getting tiresome.
Funny I never read “The people in the United States elected Obama and the Democrats so we should just quit bitching because we got the government we wanted.”
It sure sucks sometimes when the enemy has taken over your territory. Life in the Finger Lakes region would be superb were it not for the New York government, which I most certainly do NOT elect and most certainly do NOT want.
“And yes, even as minorities we get the government we wanted because we still live where we do. When we have had enough, we will move.”
The US is run by leftist Democrats and Obama.
When are you leaving the country?
(Just extending your logic a bit)
I think I do derive some sort of guilty pleasure when I see that happen to people who are, less well versed, to say, in the fine art of mowing the lawn. I also get a nice chuckle out of people who use riding mowers to mow tiny postage-stamp sized lots.
Of course, my secret to keeping a lawn green is to simply let the weeds take over. They never seem to turn brown even in the worst of droughts.
I wonder how much of increase in store robberies will result because smokes are now such a valuable item.
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.