[Glenn]

"If cigarettes go up in Westchester, that will be good," said Raf Halshman,

What stupidity.

[stevem]

This may be THE fundamental problem with liberals...even more so than the denial of everything natural. They can never see that when they make stupid laws, people that usually carry the burden are the ones to suffer. How many of these higher tax stores will eventually succumb?

[SheLion]

I'll be back.......

[unbiasedtruth]

Okay, that's it. We just have to raise cigarette taxes in Mount Vernon and every other New York county.

Oh, but wait. Won't that just mean that smokers living along the border with other states will just cross the state line to purchase cigarettes at a lower prices?

Well then. We just need to get Hillary, our beloved savior Senator, to sponsor legislation to raise federal tobacco taxes, so that everyone will be forced to pay more for smokes.

Way to go New York. You raise tobacco taxes in hopes of raising revenue and the opposite happens. Funny, isn't? The same thing happens when income tax rates are increased. Most of the time, revenues decline.

[SheLion]

The problem is not only the loss of tobacco sales but also the extras smokers buy.  "They buy everything here - a beer, a sandwich, a soda," said Mozeb, who estimates the store's total sales are down 25% for the month. 

The PRISSY NOSED ANTI-SMOKERS who want to ban smoking and raise the taxes to high heaven have no respect for anyone but themselves. They do NOT realize that smokers DO make up at least 30% of society!

It’s really sad that it has come to this, but if it wasn’t for the anti-smokers, the anti-smoking health coalitions and the anti-smoking LAWMAKERS, the stores and restaurants wouldn’t be IN this fix!!

[SheLion]

" If cigarettes go up in Westchester, that will be good," said Raf Halshman, a worker at F & A Deli. "We have to wait and be patient."

FORK YOU, buddy!  People will be forced to go to the Internet, Reservations or to rolling their own! Smokers are a lot smarter then he thinks!

and

Smokers United

[jackbill]

Bloomberg and the boys are bragging that, even though cigarette sales are down by about 50%, tax revenues are up. They couldn't care less about the "little guys" who are losing their businesses.

[CIB-173RDABN]

As a non-smoker, one would think this did not concern me, but it does.

I blame the tobaco industry. When the first ban on advertising on television was proposed they should have fought it to the bitter end. They never should have given in. That was the first step.

This ban established the legality of banning "commercial" speech. I find it strange to have a consitution that allows pornography, but not some commercial advertising.

The next step was the no smoking areas in restaurants. This should have been fought, but again, they gave in. (The tobaco industries have billions of dollars for advertisement, you are telling me they could not have established teams of lawyers to fight these local ordinances. Well they didn't, and in a short amount of time they went from haveing non-smoking areas to completly banning smoking in the bar and restaurants, and from there to public buildings and now I see they are after public spaces."

I do not see this battle as a "smoking" issue, but as a freedom issue.

We are already hearing the rumbles of how bad fast food is for us, how long will be it be that there is a ban on fast food restaurants from advertising on TV?

The power to tax, is the power to destroy. Once they establish the ability to tax cirgarettes, they will soon begin taxing other items, all of course for our own good.

Our only hope now is that they over reach themselves and there is a policitcal backlash, but I don't have much hope this will occur.

[bandleader]

Once again,the"good intentions"of The Rich Limousine-"LiboCrites"do nothing to solve the problem,but do hurt the lower class entrepenuer!!!When are these people going to wise up???