I don't get something here. Virtually nobody in FR had any kind of problem at all when the feds and states started directly taxing smokers to their i-teeth to make them stop.
Why the sudden fury that the govt is going to directly tax people to modify their behavior for other causes?
We kept telling you all that if they could do it to us, they'll find reasons to do it to the rest of you eventually as well. But would anyone listen? nooooooooo
Welcome to the party pals!
They tax you (unfairly to my mind) because you smoke.
What are they taxing me for?
Hey, I’m not in favor of confiscatory taxation against smokers or drinkers or anyone else.
But there is a constitutional issue. The Constitution allows the federal government to impose excise taxes. So yes, they have the constitutional power to tax you when you buy a pack of cigarettes or a gallon of gasoline.
But they don’t have the power under the Constitution to tax you for not doing something, for just existing (unless the tax is apportioned).
It’s not the fact that the government attempts to modify behavior.
It’s that before, at least the citizen had to actually DO something to be taxed. If you buy a pack of cigarettes, then you pay a tax. If you buy a pack of cigarettes, you owe a dollar.
Now the government claims the right to tax you for NOT doing something. They now have the right to tax you for NOT buying a pack of cigarettes if they wish. If you do NOT buy a pack of cigarettes, you owe a dollar.
Which is of course unconstitutional except in the Roberts in Wonderland world of constitutional law.
Excuse me but I had a problem. Although I don’t smoke when I smell cigarette smoke I think of past days of freedom.