Cigarette tax soars; will cheating, too? ("All hell is going to break loose.")

Seattle Times ^ | 11/26/01 | Peter Lewis

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

With its new $1.425-per-pack tax

I don't support anti-smoking measures, but wouldn't it be interesting if a conservative proposed legislation designed to ban cigarettes?

"If I were a betting man," said Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow, "I'd bet that the level of evasion will increase."

Imagine "cheating" to the point where "tax revenues" drop below "acceptable levels" and government either defining purchase price or taking over marketing.

[HRC]

I can just see the re-write of the movie Untouchables. Where instead of the barrel busting scenes in the warehouses, we see Politically Correct Police Commissioners arguing about what to do with the illegal cigarettes. Since they cant burn them because of the negative health effects of second hand smoke. The PC Police chief arguing that burning that much tobacco at one time will cause the ozone layer to disappear. The whole scene ultimately ending in a confiscated warehouse and the cigarettes being stolen and sold again. Then the whole scene repeats until the entire stockpile is gone.

[DWSUWF]

The marketplace has a collective wisdom about it...

When prices are too high, people won't buy, or they'll scale their purchases back.

But when taxes are unacceptably high, people in large numbers will simply find a way to thumb their noses at them.

The same is true of laws...

People will obey laws they regard as just and reasonable.

They'll break laws that they don't hold in this regard.

Governments -ultimately- have only as much power as we allow them to have. Even the most advanced, the most evil and draconian governments the world has ever known are vulnerable to this final judgement.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

State revenue forecasters maintain they took the illicit market into account when they originally projected the initiative would generate $130 million a year, most of it dedicated to improving health care for low-income people.

Projections have since been lowered by about $12 million.

Anyone still think the public believes these taxes are dedicated to the "improving health care" BS?

[Still Thinking]

Is Jeff at all conscience-stricken that he's cheating the state? "I have no problem with it," he says.

Is the state conscience-stricken that it is trying to cheat Jeff?

[Still Thinking]

"I can just see the re-write of the movie Untouchables. Where instead of the barrel busting scenes in the warehouses, we see Politically Correct Police Commissioners arguing about what to do with the illegal cigarettes. Since they cant burn them because of the negative health effects of second hand smoke. "

No, no, no: second hand tobacco smoke is harmless when produced by the anointed in pursuit of a socially conscious cause. (/sarcasm)

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

This is funny stuff! Especially the state "economists" who have NO IDEA what the result of a huge tax increase on tobacco will be. What are these parasites good for, anyway? My old pal Vinnie from Brooklyn could tell them EXACTLY what the result will be- smuggling, evasion, and further strengthening of organized crime.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

what the result will be- smuggling, evasion, and further strengthening of organized crime.

A future requirement which today can only conceivably be handled by trained airport security personal. We must hire and train as many as possible! Not long from now the 100,000 police will cease to be a protective factor in our society. The military must be reconsidered in terms of world security, far too much of our taxes are not devoted to the poor... and wasted on death. We have created a new security element which can and will support America in it's effort to reinforce cigarette tax laws.

[mlocher]

$1.425 per pack tax

our government does not want to see smoking end. if it does, then tobacco farmers will be hurt, but more importantly, another source of income will dry up -- sin tax. the liberal ploy here is to pit smokers against non-smokers. the non-smokers feel justified in helping save someone's life and they figure the smoker 'deserves' to pay the tax anyway.

hey, it has worked. look at all the responses on the various threads about smoking the last few days. an awful lot of freepers want to punish smokers...

[Just another Joe]

Puff

[Just another Joe]

Or they can do like I did. I now stuff my own cigarettes.
Tastes better, lasts longer, and is cheaper by AT LEAST half. And I use a semi pricey tobacco.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

Hmmm, "...$1.425-per-pack tax

Gubmint say smoking bad fa ya,
Gubmint say smoking raise 'heathcare' costs,
Gubmint say stop smoking,
Gubmint say "We make it hard fa ya to smoke",

Assuming everyone stops smoking, where is this '$130 million a year, most of it dedicated to improving health care for low-income people' going to come from?

[qwert]

I have not bought my smokes from a store (In Georgia) in over 2 years. Where I go, I get smoke's by the CASE and give them (wink, wink, nudge, nudge,) to my neighbors. So far I have over 250 friends, whom I do a favor for. I figure all they need to do in Ga. is to raise taxes one more time and I will have 500 new friends.. God how I love capitalism....

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

look at all the responses on the various threads about smoking the last few days. an awful lot of freepers want to punish smokers...

I don't know about those, but as I quoted, all hell will break lose if cigarettes were illegal. How would the revenues be recouped?

[mlocher]

how would the revenues be recouped?

liberal answer: there must an industry out there somewhere that we can rape and pillage...
conservative answer:the revenues do not need to be recouped -- live within your means.

[freedomcrusader]

Republican answer = = conservative answer + "However, we don't want to seem extreme or we might not get releected, so what the heck, let's rape and pillage another industry just like the liberals want."

[GailA]

For lower prices try switching over to something like Swisher Sweets cigar type cigs same size as cigs same 20 per pack. Hubby did. About $1.39 a pack in Tennessee at tobacco store. A 22 pack carton is $28.50

[mlocher]

republican answer == ...

LOL!!! your sense of humour is almost as bad as mine!

[sailrabbit]

$15 shipped

[freedomcrusader]

I was thinking that I forgot the semicolon at the end! :)