Posted on 05/25/2004 10:46:34 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
It will have been seven years next month since I had my last smoke.
There have been at least a half dozen other times that I have 'quit for good' since I started smoking before the Surgeon General talked down to me by putting warnings on each pack. Any kid with half a brain knows that ingesting smoke of any kind into their lungs is not good for them. I did and I still miss lighting up. But, this time, I think I've kicked the habit for good.
That said, if I were still smoking, I think I would be growing and rolling my own.
What gets me cranked on this Tobacco Tax issue is that these legislators have already butchered and consumed the fat hog they got from the Tobacco Settlement - directly paid for by higher prices.
Now, they can tell us that "We All Know that XXX program must be continued or expanded." If it is true that "We All" know the importance of the current spending folly, get "We All" to pay for it. Instead of demonizing smokers who have paid far, far more than their share of taxes.
A more honest proposal by the legeslature would be
1) Make cigarettes illegal.
2) Put a lifetime yearly tax on all former smokers of $1600.00 per year just because they used to smoke.
3) Life in prison for anyone having anything to do with
the inevitable black market that will spring up after this
new law passes.
MORONS!
This is a big reason I buy on line from a reservation in NY. Of course, the state thinks I quite and their behaviour modification was a success. Now they can't live without my money!
"How much is a pack of smokes in Michigan ?"
I spoke with a smoker yesterday that pays $3.68 a pack. That is at the low end of the cost, normally smokers tell me they pay $4-4.50 per pack and about $35-40 per carton (ten packs). I pay $16.95 a carton from out of state.
I was required to take a long flight and I decided some nicorette gum might come in handy. When I made the purchase, the store acted like I was trying to snatch some gold at Ft. Knox. I went to the cashier and bought cigs very easily. I think they got the point.
Cutting spending, would never cross their minds. Raising taxes on cigarettes will not be enough. Ohio's Governor Taft raised taxes on numerous services, that were never taxed before, (haircuts,tanning etc).
Jenny from the bloc has discussed the same things, proposing a new services tax!
My two reps voted against the tobbaco tax. If they vote for it they're toast and they know it. This will not pass.
Jennifer should build a "cool city" out of zebra mussells, launch it onto Lake Superior and float back to "cool" Canada.
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