CIGARETTE VENDORS GETTING $MOKED OUT

New York Post ^ | 7/02/02 | IKIMULISA SOCKWELL- MASON and GILL SMITH

[kattracks]

July 2, 2002 -- With new city taxes bringing the average price of a pack of cigarettes to a whopping $7, smokers yesterday began abandoning their usual deli and newsstand stops for cheaper sources - giving merchants a pain in the pocketbook.

[bybybill]

What a joke, NYC is going to defy the laws of human nature and keep raising taxes on groups so that the majority doesn`t have to pay more. Now, the fools in California are going to place a huge tax on SUVs. Watch tobacoo tax revenue in NYC drop like a rock.

[Libertarian_4_eva]

I live in NYC and already put in an order for smokes over the net. This is going to kill deli's here in the city.

[KS Flyover]

PUFF

[Myrddin]

It seems the New York politicians haven't heard of the Laffer curve. Art Laffer's theory is that there is an optimum tax rate that maximizes revenue. If you go below that value, you miss revenue that might have been collected. If you go above that point, the taxed activity decreases and you again lose revenue. New York has clearly gone way above the optimal value. The taxed activity will probably cease i.e. sales of tobacco under the control of New York to tax for revenue purposes.

[Caipirabob]

On the other hand all this is a great boon to the Black Market which I heartily applaud in the face of such tyranny. Capitalism rules!

[RippleFire]

They ought to call this the "Wise Guy Subsidy Bill".

[Just another Joe]

"I'm going to New Hampshire or Delaware," said the New Jersey resident. "It'll be worth paying the extra money in gas."

And so it goes. They lose money while trying to make money.

[kcpopps]

"On the other hand all this is a great boon to the Black Market which I heartily applaud in the face of such tyranny. Capitalism rules!"

Yessir. These unjust actions call for widespread defiance.

[kcpopps]

Just went to the smoke store and bought my first carton of off brand smokes since the KS tax increase. Last week this carton cost $14 and some odd cents. Today it was $19.66.

Then I went to fill the wife's car up with gas. Recent tax increase there too. Cheapest Unleaded Gas would be .89 cents a gallon w/o the tax. 1/3 of the price per gallon is in tax.

We live near the state border - on the MO side these taxes have not been raised (yet). Guess what I will do?

Driving business away. We are governed by complete idiots.

[sandmanbr]

just wait until they put a $2 fat tax on their Big Macs