As of March 31, 2009 tax on cigarettes in California jump from $.39 a pack to $1.01. That raised the price of a carton by $10.00 ea. after each agency adds their share. In New York, cigarettes under the guise of "being good for our health" are going up to $9.00 a pack. That's ludicrous! While no one likes our smoke they sure like spending the money it provides. Don't they get it that they're just killing the Golden Goose? With this tax hike they surely will get more people to quit. What do they think happens when all the smokers quit or buy off the black market, or in another state where it is cheaper? Down go the very revenues they're trying to raise.
Ok, I admit it. I am a smoker. I know I should quit. I know it's a "filthy habit". I know it stinks, but I really don't want to quit. I really don't want to be forced to. Whether you are a smoker or not, I'm sure that you'll agree it's not right to discriminate against any particular sector of society for any reason. It starts with us smokers, but whose next? Will it be obese people and snack foods, or white bread, or white sugar? Will it be old people who have pets because the government knows they won't give them up. It would be like giving up one of the family. Will they start upping the taxes on alcohol or prescription drugs? Where else can they milk the American people for more money?
Don't even tell me about the health care cost to the public. It can't be any more than it is for the alcoholics that are homeless and never sober up, or the people with diabetes due to obesity, or heart conditions or many other diseases caused by things we do (or whatever they're looking to blame it on this week). The people I know that have died from smoking all had insurance that paid for their care and it didn't cost "the public" anything.
2 comments:
Lauri, I'm surprised you smoke. I smoked from age 13 to 40. LOL--back in the day smoking was a rite of passage. My first pack of Marlboro Reds cost 20 cents out of a vending machine.
What puzzles me--cigarettes keep getting taxed & taxed & more people quit as you said. Yet beer & alcohol taxes have remained relatively steady in comparison. They have certainly not gone up at the rate of cigarettes.
Hmmm..wonder whose lobbyists pay for more trips to Hawaii.
Lou- thanks so much for commenting. Like I said, I'm working on quitting, but it's more the principal of the thing to me.
Hope you see today's post regarding liquor taxes. They just thought they were safe. LOL
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