Posted on 04/10/2013 1:32:46 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
President's Obama's call for a 94-cent-a-pack hike on federal cigarette taxes to fund early childhood education programs is controversial.
Anti-smoking groups applaud the proposal, but some tax experts and tobacco companies are against it.
The case for the tax. The tax is being presented as way to fund education and reduce smoking rates. It would raise roughly $78 billion over 10 years.
"The proposed tobacco tax increase would have substantial public health benefits, particularly for young Americans," the president's budget read. "Researchers have found that raising taxes on cigarettes significantly reduces consumption, with especially large effects on youth smoking."
After a 62-cent-a-pack tax hike was passed in 2009, cigarette sales dropped by 10%, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
more....
Why it may be a bad idea. The biggest argument against the tax is that it will fund early childhood education on the backs of the poor. Not only is the tax not progressive - it does not go up the more money one makes -- but a higher percent of smokers are middle or low income.
The median household income for a smoker in 2011 was $27,700 compared to $45,761 for nonsmokers, according to Reynolds American (RAI, Fortune 500), a cigarette maker which is, unsurprisingly, against the tax.
Nearly half of all smokers had a household income of less than $25,000 a year. Meanwhile, under 15% of smokers had a household income over $75,000.
more...
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Is that you Mayor Bloomberg?
How about we just tax everything the government deems unhealthy out of existence? Wanna ban sugary drinks next? How about red meat?
Actually, smuggling bootleg cigs out of my home county in SE North Carolina to NY has always been an accepted way to make a few extra dollars. In a place where unemployment among young men (such as I was) runs about 50%, it’s just accepted.
/never smuggled
//never smoked
///grew up in a place that accepted smuggling as a way of life since the seventeen-hundreds
Remember that when the come after your “vice”.
And many members of FR will applaud this, just as they did when he raised them a month after he cam into office - after promising to not raise taxes on middle and lower income folks.
WOW - it only took 8 posts for the Obama lovers to show their true colors.
bite yer tongue willis, I just hate cigs that’s all
“And many members of FR will applaud this, just as they did when he raised them a month after he cam into office - after promising to not raise taxes on middle and lower income folks”
SCHIP was raised and so was the tax on cigarette. At least Bush didn’t sign this Rat bill but O did in a heart beat.
So, we plunder nicotine addicts some more to fund programs to indoctrinate four-year-olds??? A win-win! /sarc
Nanny State PING!
Yes, maybe so. If he taxes menthols, the Black vote will go from 95 percent Democrat to 90 percent Democrat.
It already exists alright, I see it everyday in the parking lots of the 13 or so tobacco outlets and convenience stores in the 8 miles between my house and the MD/VA line. 5.5 hour straight to NYC. A $120.00 carton of Marlboros in NYC is a mere $37.00 here.
or substitution, i.e., home-grown pot.
It's easy to grow tobacco, and it's legal.
Guess again. Statists don't recognize limits on their power.
Ummm... Might that be anywhere near the White’s Ferry crossing?
—— It’s easy to grow tobacco, and it’s legal ——
Didn’t know that. I remember seeing the old tobacco fields in CT, and the farm operations seemed pretty elaborate.
Does home-grown taste good?
So are people who insult others...........
Not really, it is far easier to grow tobacco, and that's legal to grow.
I hear ya, though I don’t entirely agree. The only reason my mother has any money in the bank at all is because I made her quit smoking 10 years ago. Her brand was >$50 per carton back then, don’t know what they are now.
Of course, now that the gov’t is shoulder-deep in health care, they’ll demand a big say in everything we do. But we’ll get Brit NHS level of “care.”
I don't give a rat's rear end - you are supporting him in this - you are an O supporter - learn to live with it.
Exactly, and plenty of FReepers supported him doing it - and there is at least one so-called conservative on this thread supporting him in this move.
Not as far as I know. I live on the coast, AKA the Eastern Shore.
Sometimes free markets, are the best markets.
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