Posted on 11/27/2001 1:14:12 PM PST by notyourregularhandle
SEATTLE - Maybe it's time to just round up all the smokers.
We can send authorities out to rip little babies from the arms of those Marlboro smokin' moms. Dads can stoically drag on a Lucky Strike as their kids watch them being hauled away.
Why not? Smokers are all pariahs; a blight on society whose only value is the ever-increasing tax revenue they provide by their pitiful purchases of packs and cartons of tobacco.
With passage of Initiative 773, that tax revenue takes a big bump up. Maybe.
I-773 adds another .60 cents in tax to each and every pack of cigarettes. On Jan. 1, that'll total out to $1.43 tax per pack.
Now, while smokers may be pariahs, they're not stupid. They can get a better deal at tribal smokeshops. They can order tax-free cigarettes over the Internet. Of course, it's illegal to do that.
Which has redrawn the attention of state authorities and state economists. With dollar signs lighting up their eyes, state folks are trying to figure out how to trap those swindling smokers.
'Cause if they can catch 'em, then they can fine them.
Oooooh, MORE revenue!
Who should be next? Tax cheaters who buy expensive clothes and stereos online, slicing the state out of the take?
How about we frisk grandma as she comes back from Oregon with a couple of untaxed bottles of peppermint schnapps in her purse?
Forget it. That's a bad idea. See, they're "good" citizens.
Smokers? They're easy targets. Who'd speak out for someone dumb enough to be sucking addictive, unhealthy crap into their lungs? Tax 'em with impunity!
By the way, time to fess up here. I smoke.
So, who knows. Maybe someday you can round us all up; snatch the babies from our arms; send us off to where we'll never be heard from again (once the tax coffers are filled).
Then? Well, then you can go after those red meat eaters!
"Too loose, it sags all over," the hapless soul replies.
"No problem, just grab the bottom of the left side and pull down a bit, and tuck your right thumb under the right-side lapel and pull up; and stick this free pipe in your mouth like a college professor might do."
The poor soul follows these instructions and again faces the mirror. This time the jacket fits beautifully.
The salesman takes his money, shows him to a room to change his trousers and ushers him out the door, saying, "Be sure and hold it as I showed you, you want to look your best."
A block down the street the guy passes a couple of old biddies who separate to let him pass. As soon as he is down the street out of earshot the one O.B. says to the other one:
"Did you see that poor cripple?"
"Yes," she responded, "But wasn't he dressed nice?"
They were both at least 50 pounds over ideal weight at the time of their deaths.
You would be wise to heed this advice.
Im an old time conservative, i do not embrace - libertarinan beliefs of government, legalization of drugs, the homo agenda, or any of the lefts socialist ideals. I reject darwins "theory" on evolution.
I beg to differ as to the bold section.
What would be cool is if smoking were banned outright.
It's being equated with child endangering, polloutants such as asbestos and people are being denied the freedom to use a perfectly legal product within the confines of their own homes.
What you are seeing here is social engineering via legslation.
Think: Suv, cellphone, meat products, guns and ammunition.. and it will become more clear what's actually going on here.
And guess what would happen if everyone stopped tomorrow?
1) Budgets would be in the red all over this nation.
2) The taxes would be promptly lowered.
That IS a surprise. How do they get around it?
Why is that? Are cigarettes singled out from the "No tax on internet" bill that was just extended for two years?
One of the things you fought for was the freedom of people to make dumb decisions. Smoking might be a dumb decision, but it is still a personal choice and in a free country we can still afford personal freedom, even if it is not what we might choose for ourself.
Again, thank you for your service.
I was wondering that myself...anyone have any answers as to why it is illegal???
Liberals create cancer.
Cures for cancer exist.
There is no known remedial treatment for liberals.
Liberals smoke.
--and Look where it "got him!!"
Unless a "citizen" is actively & knowingly harming others by his/her actions, our society has NO business "treading on their lives!"
BTW, the VAST majority of the "second-hand Smoke research" is "Scientific CRAP!" The "Statistical Criteria" were "Agenda-Driven!"
Nearly ALL of us have relatives who lived well past 80 years despite STRONG smoking histories!
Yes, smoking may be "Bad for You," but so is eating Lettuce!
The "Agenda" of the "Anti-Smoking Nazi's" is NOT based on clear "Scientific Data,"--it is a POLITICAL AGENDA, & its motives should be HIGHLY SUSPECT!
Doc
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